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IN 



AMERICAN HISTORY 

REVEALING THE SERVICES OF NEGROES 

IN THE EARLY WARS IN THE 

UNITED STATES OF 

AMERICA 

1641 - 1815 




BY 



LAURA E. WILKES 

TEACHER IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
OF WASHINGTON, D. C, 



Copyright bv 
Laura E. Wilkes, 
1919 



-{<H 



H 20 1919 

©CI. A5 155 so 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 



FOREWORD. 




PATIENT research, extetiding over a period of six 
J\ years, has given the author the courage to send 
out this volume. It lias also convinced her that the 
Negroes of America have done their bit in every war 
and taken no small part in every military movement 
made for the salvation of this country from the time of 
its earliest settlement. 

The facts found herein are taken from colonial records, state 
papers, assembly journals, histories of slavery, and old time 
histories of the various colonies, and of the republic. The reader 
can easily verify this statement by using the bibUograpy at the 
end of the work. 

While it is impossible to gather all of the truth concerning 
this matter it is doubtless true, that much more, than is here 
chronicled, will be available to the student of this particular 
department of history, if he shall have leisure and funds to dig 
deeper into half- forgotten traditions of old towns and villages. 
That these pages may prove a stimulant for farther research, by 
others, their writer ardently desires and she earnestly hopes the 
book will eventually be read collaterally, with the histories of the 
United States, by every one who can be inspired by its in- 
formation. 

L. E. W. 



V, 



Missing Pages in American History. 

DEFENSE SERVICES OF NEGROES IN 
COLONIAL WARS. 

1641^1755- 



It appears that on every hand the white settlers were at first 
kindly received by the original inhabitants of the Amercian soil. It, 
however, came about as the Indians realized that their hunting 
grounds were being turned into tilled fields and that thriving vil- 
lages and towns were taking the place of their forests, that had 
afforded them everything needful for their existence, fear, distrust, 
and hatred became the substitutes for friendly interest. Each new 
settlement made by the white men showed the red men only too 
plainly that they who had been the sovereigns of the woodland and 
the stream were rapidly becoming the subjects of foreign masters. 
Death, migration; or civilization, little of which latter was offered 
by the British to the aboriginees, were all, to them, equally objec- 
tionable and they fell upon the only feasible plan, that of making 
war, in the hope of exterminating those who were the cause of 
their sorrows. Dating from the infancy of the English and the 
Dutch Colonies there were frequent and very terrible outbreaks on 
the part of the Indians all up and down the Atlantic Coast. For 
their protection the colonists were forced to provide defense of no 
uncertain sort. To this end they enacted laws for the calling of 
men to arms, as well as for the training of these men in the carry- 
ing of the same. Very early in the history of every colony from 
New Hampshire to Georgia, Negro slavery existed in one form 01 
another, and in many, if not in all of them, the masters did not hes- 
itate to call upon their bondmen to render assistance in the shoul- 
dering of arms, and this call received a willing response. 

. Nuw York. • 

The first slaves were carried into the colony of New Amsterdam 
by the Dutch West India Company from Spanish possessions in 
1626. It happened that in 1641, only a few years later, the Dutch, 
by law, armed these people with a tomyhawk and a half pike to aid 
them in fighting murderous Indians. In 1664 the Hollanders put 



8 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

their slaves to, work throwing up breastworks to defend the city 
against the English sent by Charles the Second. The people of this 
colony did not object, on the whole, to the coming of the Engli.Mi, 
and in a short time after their advent terms were agreed upon 
which changed the name of the settlement to New York, and placed 
it under England's control. The black men had evidently given 
satisfactory service, for in April, 1()99, the Earl of Belmont, writing 
to the Lords of Trade, said : 

"lint rather than require more soldiers from England, I shoi^'ld 
advise the sending for negroes from Guinea, which I undei stand 
are bought there and brought hither, all charges whatever being 
borne, for ten pounds apiece. New York money, and I can clothe 
and feed them very comfortably for nine pence, apiece per day 
sterling money, which is threepence per day less than I require for 
soldiers." 

In this colony, in the year 1()!);5, Negroes and others not listed 
were ordered to work on the fortifications whenever they needed re 
pairing, under the captains in whose wards they resided. This en- 
actment went into effect in the time of King William's War and 
enabled Negroes to aid in bringing that struggle to an end This 
war extended from KiH!) to KJDT. The horrible massacre of 
Schenectady took place at that time, and Port Royal was captured 
by the English under Sir William Phipps. 

A Border Story. 

Long after King William's War and Queen Anne's War. Indian 
hostilities continued in this colony. Villages were often burned, 
and traveling, as well as hunting parties, were attacked on the roads. 
In 1T49 two Dutchmen, Duk \'an \'ost and Daniel Toll, with Ryck- 
ert, the Negro slave of the latter, were out looking for some horses 
that had strayed from a farm about three miles from the west of 
Schenectady. The Hollanders had gone out with a large bodv of 
tlieir countrymen, whom they left in order to more successfull) carry 
on their search. Shortly after they left the main party it was at- 
tacked by Indians. This they learned from one of the number who 
had escaped. Fearing for their lives \"an \'ost and Toll hid them- 
selves and sent Ryckert on to Schenectady to give the alarm and. 
if possible, to secure aid for them. This he did, and a small bodv 
of militia at his direction left the village and proceeded toward the 
farm to which the two white men had said they would endeavor to 
make their way. The faithful Ryckert did not remain in tcwn, as 
he might have been expected to have done, but instead made his way 



€ 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTOBY 9 

back to the hiding place of iiis master. Toll, and together thev pushed 
on to tile point where it had been agreed that they diould nKct the 
militia. In this the\- were unsuccessful, for they were overtaken by 
the Indians and Toll was slain. Ryckert. however, was uninjured, 
and started again for the town. On his way he met the rescue partyi 
who had been delayed, and he offered to return with them and to 
show them where his master had fallen. On being given a hors'? 
he conducted the men to die place. The Indians meanwhile, unsus- 
pected by the whites, still lingered in the neighborhood, looking for 
more victims. Indeed, .they had prepared a decov in the beliif that 
some one would come to look for the slain Dutch farmer. The'- 
propped the dead man"s body in an upright sitting position and witii 
a string tied a live crow to it. The bird, of course, hopped up and 
down in an effort to get away. This is what the rescuers saw when 
they came upon the scene and. not knowing the man was dead, nor 
seeing the string fastened to the crow, they rushed forward to ex- 
amine what appeared to be a wcinderful sight — a bird continuing to 
hop up and down in one place in front of a man. The red men,'' 
who had concealed themselves nearby, had anticipated this and they 
rushed out and killed many of the4ii. There were seventv men in 
this band of militia. It is not recorded that Ryckert was slain. 

Mass.n.chusetts. 

The first Negro slaves landed on the bleak and stormy shores of 
Massachusetts from Bermuda in Ki^S. \'ery shortlv after this some 
of these men were called upon to help fight the Indians; for in KU". 
\rhen a list was prepared in Plymouth of men capable of bearing 
arms, it contained the name of Abraham Pearse and described bin. 
as being a blackamore. In KJo^ an act was passed in this colony 
requiring that: "All Negroes and Inflians from sixteen to sixty year-; 
of age. inhabitants or servants to the English, be listed and iiereb^ 
enjoined to attend trainings as well as the English." These train- 
iiigs were held at regular intervals. The only music employed wa;; 
that of a drum. This law was repealed in Kioii. but in KKiO all of 
the males, regardless of race, were required To attend trainings. 
This statute was set aside, in its turn, and it was not until the ad 
ministration of Sir Edmund Andros that it was again decreed that 
no one above the age of fifteen should remain unenlisted by himsel'' 
or by his master. Negroes not excepted. This law was probibly in 
effect during King William's War, which began in 1()1»3. In 1707 
free Negroes and mulattoes of Massachusetts were required to per- 
form services equivalent to that of the militia, under the n^nimand 



10 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

of the officers in charge of the niihtary district in which they Hved. 
Under this enactment they served on the highways. Thirty of these 
people Hving in the city of Boston are reported as having served 
in this capacity, giving two hundred and eighteen days of labor. 
Queen Anne's War was at its height at this time. It was during 
tliis period, 1702-1713, that the English colonists suffered terribly 
at the hands of the French and their Canadian allies, who, dividing 
themselves into many bands, came down from Maine and made at- 
tacks upon a number of the flourishing villages of Massachusetts. 
Dcerfield was sacked in this conflict. 

— — • 

North Carolina. 

The Virginia planters, moving southward, carried their slaves into 
North Carolina before 1658, where a special impetus was added to 
their importation into that colony in that every master was offered 
fifty acres of land for each servant* over fifteen years of age who 
could be armed in time of need. In the words of the ancient law 
referred to, * * * "They to be armed with a good firelock or 
matchlock bore, twelve bullets to ten pounds of powder and twenty 
pounds of bullets with match proportionable." (Guns at this time 
were fired by applying a match to a touchhole.) Several other laws 
similar to this were passed in the early days of North Carolina for 
the defense of her settlements. In 1706 all free men of this colony 
from sixteen to sixty, unless exempted by law, were required to 
organize as well as keep themselves supplied with. ammunition, and 
whenever an Indian outbreak occurred, all ablebodied men, slave a.= 
well as free, were called upon to render military services. 

The Tuscarora War.- 

The provinces at this period were for the most part wild, un- 
broken forests. The settlements were small towns, at the mouths of 
rivers and on islands along the coast. Away from these places were 
vast stretches of primeval forest, or great swamps filled with tan- 
gled thickets. There were no roads other than the highways from 
one post to another, and these were lonely and deserted. In this 
great region, twenty-eight Indian tribes, friendly at first to the 
whites, began to grow irritable and warlike at their constant en- 
croachments. The red men began hostilities in 1711 near Roanoke, 



'Slave. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY II 

North Carolina. Here in one night thirty-seven settlers were put 
to death. This was the opening scene of the Tuscarora War. It 
lasted two years. Most of its battles were fought on the soil of 
the Old North State. Free men of color, by an act of 1706, saw 
service in this cljnflict. 

With the assistance of their neighbors from South Carolina and 
Virginia the whites succeeded in conquering the savages, and the 
Tuscaroras migrated northward and cast in their lot with their kins- 
men, the Five Nations, .in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. 

South Carouna. 

Sir John Yemans carried slaves into South Carolina to work his 
plantations, on the Ashley River, in 1671. Negroes were at work 
a few years later on the breastworks of Charleston. An act which 
employed them, reading as follows : "Be it further enacted : That 
the said William Rhett (commander for managing fortifications) 
shall have power and is hereby authorized and empowered to press 
any Negroes within the aforesaid limits (a specified portion of 
Charleston) to work at the rate of two royals* and a half per diem, 
their masters finding the victuals, excepting the. said Negroes are 
tradesmen, and then, if wanted, to be pressed to work, at three 
royals per diem, their masters finding the victuals ; and shall also 
have power to press white men for overseers, within the precincts 
aforesaid, at the rate of two shillings sixpence per diem." The part 
of the city fortified had a front on the Cooper River. The Negroes 
were furnished tools, carts and horses. They made entrenchments, 
flankers and parapets. 

The very next year, 1704, a lav/ was enacted reading as subjoined, 
which called upon slaves to render military aid in time of alarm. 
"Whereas, among the several slaves belonging to this colony there 
are a great number of them who, by care and discipline may be ren- 
dered serviceable towards the defense and preservation of this 
province, and in case of actual invasion, and in order to make the 
assistance of our trusty slaves more certain and regular: First. Be 
it enacted by His Excellency, John P. Granville, Palatine, and the 
rest of the true and absolute lords of this province, by and with the 
advice and consent of the rest of the members of the General As- 
sembly now met at Charleston, for the southwest part of this prov- 
ince and by the authority of fhe same : That within thirty days 
after the ratification of this act, the several captains or commanders 



*The writer is unable to ascertain the value of a "royal" in pres- 
ent-day money. 



12 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

throughout tin's province do, by virtue of a warrant, under their 
hands and seals, empower and commission five freeholders, in their 
respective divisions, to form and complete a list of such Negro, 
mulatto and Indian slaves as they, or any three of them, shall judge 
serviceable for the purpose aforesaid, which said commanders, after 
ha^•ing finished their said lists, are to warn and summon the said 
masters and mistresses, or overseers, to wdiom said slaves belong, 
to appear before them at a certain date to show cause why their 
said slave or slaves so chosen should not continue the said I'st: of 
which reason the said commanders oi any three of them are made 
com])etent judges, to allow or disapjirove as they, in their rHscre- 
tion, shall see fit ; and further, to direct and require the said masters 
and mistresses, or overseers, of said slaves, on time of alarm or 
special summons, that 'they cause their several slaves so enlisted, 
and armed with a serviceable lance, hatchet or gun, with suf^cient 
ammunition, according to the convenience of the said ownt^s, to 
appear under the colors of the respective captains in their several 
divisions throughout this province, there to remain and to be dis- 
posed in such manner as said officers or the commander-in-chief 
shall direct and appoint for the public service. And the said com- 
missioners are hereby directed and required /that 'within ten days 
after completing said list they do return the same to their respec- 
tive captains in each division under their hands, and upori their 
oaths, as a true, fair and impartial list of said slaves, according to 
the best of their judgment; the oath to be administered by the sev- 
eial captains on the return of said lists. And the said captains are 
hereby also required, that within ten days after the receipt of said 
list, they present the same to the Right Honorable, the Governor, 
and receive such instructions for the management of such slaves 
as His Honor shall pre-«cjibe and think tit, and as may best suit the 
public safety intended thereby." 

Section .3: "If anv slaves, enlisted as aforesaid, shall happen to 
be killed or maimed in actual service by the enemy, then the master 
or owner of such slave so killed or maimed as aforesaid shall be 
satisfied for the same by the public at such rate of value as the free- 
holders of the neighborhood, appointed by the governor, on their 
oaths shall award ; on which award so returned the governor is 
'hereby empowered to order the receiver to pay the same.'' 

The above act was in efifect two years. The conduct of the 
drafted black men was doubtless satisfactory, for at the end of that 
period thev were continued in the sefvice through more laws of the 
Colonial Lords which declared : Whereas, it is necessary for the 
safety of^his province, in case of actual invasion, to have the as- 
sistance of our trusty slaves to serve us against our enemies, ^nd 



/ 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 1 3 

it being reasonable that said slaves should be rewarded for the good 
services they may do us, and a satisfaction may be made the owners 
of such slaves, either on their death, tieedom or maiming: 

Section 1: Be it enacted that His Excellency, John, Lord Gran- 
vilje, Palatine, and the rest of the true and absolute lords aud. pro 
prietors of the province, by and with the concent of the rest of the 
members of the General Assembly, now met at Charleston for the 
southwest part of this province, and by the authority of the same : 
That, within fifteen days after the ratification of this act the several' 
captains of patrol, captains, lieutenants and ensigns of the com- 
panies throughout this province, form and complete a list of such 
Negro, mulatto' and Indian slaves as they or any two of them shall 
judge serviceable for the purpose aforesaid, not exceeding the num- 
ber of white men under the command of each respective captain, 
excepting one man slave who shall be at the choice of his master to 
attend him. upon alarms, armed with a gun and a hatchet or a cut- 
lass at his own proper cost and charge. 

Section '3 : Every slave enlisted as aforesaid, upon an alarm, shall 
repair to the colors of their respective captains in their several di- 
visions throughout this province, and on actual invasion shall be 
accoutred and armed by the captciin of each division out of the pub- 
lic store with a launce (lance) and a hatchet or a gun. with am- 
munition sufiicient, and- if as aforesaid, by their respective master, 
mistress or overseer the same (slave) is lost, or damaged, to be paid 
and allowed them by the public, and the said officers are-i^irther di- 
rectetl and required that within five days after completing th.e said 
list they do return the same, under their hands and upon their oaths 
as true, fair and impartial lists of said slaves according to the best 
of their judgments. The oath to be administered by the next justice 
of the peace. 

vSection o : If any slave shall, in actual invasion, kill or take one 
or more of our enemies, and the same shall prove, by any white 
person, to be done by him, he shall, for his reward^, at the charge of 
the public, have and enjoy his freedom for such, his killing or tak- 
ing as aforesaid ; and the master or owner of such slave shall be 
l)ai(l and satisfied by the public at such rates and prices as three 
freeholders of the neighborhood, who know the said slave, being 
nominated and appointed by the Right Honorable the Governor, 
or governor for the time being, ?;hall award, on their oaths, on which 
award so returned the governor, or governor for the time being, is 
hereby empowered to order the public receiver to pay the same ac- 
cordingly. And if any of the said slaves hai)pen to be killed or 
taken in actual service of this province l)y the enemy, or afterward 



t4 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORV 

enlisted as aforsaid, shall desert and run over to the enemy in time 
of an invasion, then the master or owner shall be paid and satis- 
fied for him in such manner and form as before appointed to the 
owner whose slaves are set free. 

Section 6 : And be it further enacted, by authority aforesaid : 
That if any slave in actual service of this province is wounded so 
that he is disabled for service to his master or owner, then such 
slave so disabled shall be set free at the charge of the public. 

This law also contained an act providing for a fine of the officers 
who failed to put it into execution, as well as one for to punish the 
owners of slaves who did not comply with its requirements. 

The Yemaske; War. 

Two years after the struggle with the Tuscaroras in North Caro- 
lina came the Yemasee War, in 1715, which threatened the very life 
of the colony of South Carolina. The Yemasees were a.' very pow- 
erful tribe of redskins, with large possessions in the neighborhood 
of Port Royal. They were joined by their neighbors, the Musko- 
gees, the Appalachians, Catawbas, Congarees and Cherokees. In^ 
deed, all of the Indians living between Cape Fear and Florida 
banded together, determined to destroy the settlement, on the Ash- 
ley River. Craven was at that time the governor of the colony. He 
put an embargo on all ships, proclaimed martial law and a^med a 
band of trusty Negroes to co-operate with the whites in their mil- 
itary operations. One of these was the defense of a fortification 
on Goose Creek. This place was defendetl by forty black and sev- 
enty white men, who had decided to remain there until their last 
drop of blood was shed. Although there were four hundred men in 
the ranks of their enemy, the settlers held out until the afternoon. 
The Indians then made overtures of peace. They were admitted 
into the stockade and immediately slew its defenders. - The war 
continued three years. Its closing scene is considered the "most 
bloody battle" in the life of the provinces. This occurred when the 
redskins, after a season of uncertain events on both of the con- 
tending sides, were driven southward from their camps across the 
Salkihatchi River and a large number of them were slain. Many 
Negroes fell in this battle. Many slaves who rendered military 
service at this time were set free. They were not in separate ranks, 
but marchd side by side with the whites. 



missing pages in american history 1$ 

Rhode Island. 

Slavery was introduced into the Colony of Rhode Island in the 
year 1647. All men within this colony from the age of sixteen to 
sixty were in the militia in the year 1708 by law. This meant free- 
men and bondmen, both black and white. Queen Anne's war was 
being waged at this time. 

Virginia. 

The first Negroes who arrived in the Colony of Virginia were 
nineteen persons, who landed at Jamestown in the year 1619. Let 
it be said here, by the way, that had these people been citizens of 
a civilized country they might have been given the protection re- 
ceived by captives under international law, for they were the vic- 
tim's of piracy, having been taken from Spanish-American domin- 
ions on a filibustering trip of the ship that brought them here. The 
Virginia planters realized this fact, too, for they were treated bv 
them as political slaves only, that is to say, they were placed in the 
hands of the town officials, for whom they worked, or for the towri 
itself. While Negroes very probably rendered some military as- 
sistance in Virginia prior to the year 1636, when they were by law 
excused from carrying or owning arms, the first recorded act calling 
them into such service was passed in 1723, when it was ordered 
that: "f'ree Negroes, mulattoes and Indians as are capable may be 
listed and employed as drummers or trumpeters, and upon any in- 
vasion, insurrection or rebellion all free Negroes, mulattoes or In- 
dians shall be obliged to attend and march with the militia and do 
the duty of pioneer, or any such other servile duty as they may be 
directed to perform." In the same year, a little later, another act 
armed these men, when it was declared that: "Every free Negro, 
mulatto or Indian being a housekeeper shall be enlisted in the 
militia, and may be permitted to keep one gun, powder and shot ; 
* * * and that all Negroes, mulattoes or Indians, bond or free, 
being at any frontier plantation, shall be permitted to keep and use 
guns, powder and shot or other weapons, ofifensive or defensive, 
having first obtained a license for the same from some justice of the 
peace of the county wherein such plantations lie." This license 
could be granted upon the application of their owners or upon that 
of the Negroes themselves. There were many free Negroes in this 
settlement at this time. Some had secured their liberty by purchas- 
ing it ; others through Free Issue laws, meritorious acts, or through 
manumission by Quakers or other conscientious persons. This lat- 



1 6 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

ter method of setting people free began as early as l(i()8. The serv- 
ices of this class (the free Negro ) were retained in the army 
thrt)ugh another act of the General Assembly, passed in IT08; but 
at that time they were employed only as pioneers, drummers or 
tmmpeters. It is pretty safe to say in the latter capacity they made 
ni.ost of the music to which the colonials marked time in those days. 
In 1755 this law was renewed and they were also required to at- 
tend the military trainings held in the province. 

Georgia. 

Georgia was settled in 1732 by the English under Oglethorpe. 
What is now Florida was then a Spanish province. The Spaniards 
wished to hold Georgia also, and a conflict arose between them and 
the English for its possession. Realizing the attitude of the Span- 
ish, Oglethorpe marched across Georgia in the spring of 1740 with 
the intention of taking the fortification of Saint Augustine. In this 
he was disappointed. That stronghold was so well defended that 

" the English failed outright. Its garrison was made up of seven 
hundred regulars, two troops of horse and four companies of armed 
Negroes. Many, if* not all. of the latter had at various times left 
the plantations of the settlers of the CaroHnas, as well as of Geor- 
gia, because of a freer life offered to them by the Spanish govern- 
ment in her province of Florida. In 1742, in order to promote 
their cause, the Spanish fitted out an expedition in Havana to pro- 
ceed against Oglethorpe. They landed near his fortifications in 
Tune of the same vear. In this expedition there was a regiment of 
Negroes, with officers of the same race, bearing the same rank as 

, Spanish officers and similarly clothed in gold and fine lace. "They 
also talked with the c(Mnmander-in-chef, Don Antonio de Rodundo, 
with equal social equality." This unclertaking was not a success 
and Georgia remained an English province. 



\ 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 1 7 

NEGROES IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

Until a period very near the Revolutionary War the best fur- 
prodncincr regions, as well as the best fishing grounds on the Amer- 
ican continent, were the property of the French, who also con- 
trolled the country's waterwa}s. This state of afifairs gave the 
French several advantages over the English in that the former 
thereby not only managed the sales of the two staples exported from 
Northern North America, but also had easy access to the section 
containing the same. The knowledge of this was most distasteful 
to England, who had a larger population in the new world than 
France. She had also better situation for commercial enterprises, 
both home and foreign, as well as direct relation wuth the mother 
country through her settlements on the coast. At this time the 
English, through Cabot, claimed all of the land north and south 
f!om New Foundland to Florida, and west to the Pacific Ocean, 
while the French, on their own explorations, owned that part of the 
continent adjacent to the St. Lawrence and the Alississippi Rivers. 
In various parts of these regions the latter erected forts. 

Frequent disputes arose over the boundaries of the possessions 
of the two countries. As early as 1G90 conflicts occurred in which 
both sides were aided by friendly Indians and sometimes by Negroes. 
The French were more favored by the redskins than. the English. 
This was due to the fact, doubtless, that the former were more tact- 
ful in their dealings with the savages because they saw, sooner than 
the English, the wisdom of holding friendly relations with them. 
Outbreaks occurred in sections far apart from each other. Between 
1()5)0 and 1(197 the French had. won and lost Arcadia. A little later 
came trouble in New Hampshire and in Massachusetts. In 1102 all 
c.f New' England was involved in the bloody struggle known as 
Queen Anne's W^ar. In 1711 the English of New Jersey and New 
York, with their dark-skinned allies, marched against the French in 
Montreal. 

Ry 1716 the English had opened a road across the Blue Ridge 
^lountains and had made settlements on the Oswego River by 1721. 
This made them neighbors of the Five Nations, living in the region 
about the Great Lakes. The French, fearing the friendliness, which 
they saw growing between the Indians and the English in this -sec- 
tion might result unfavorably to them, planned to break up the Let- 
ter's strength. To that end they made stronger their own holdings 
by erecting defenses on Lake Champlain and by inviting the French 
of New Foundland and Arcadia to leave those settlements and go 
to Louisburg. Both of these places had formerly been ceded to 
(Great Britain, The English objected to the exodus that resulted 



_l8 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

and did what, they could to prevent it. This was followed by more 
outbreaks and 'there was serious trouble in Maine. At this period 
Negroes of Massachusetts saw defensive service. Tliere was Nero 
Benson, from Pramingham. lie was a trumpeter in the company 
of Capt. Isaac Clark. He entered His Majesty's service August 27, 
1783. Black men were called to duty not only on land but also on 

sea at this time, for record is made of Caeser — , a Negro, in 

a list of oiificers and men on board the transport sloop George. He 
was registered in March, 1722. About this time both countries 
began to fill the valley of the Ohio with settlers. The French 
'marked, with leaden plates, their sections at the mouths of the vari- 
ous tributaries of this stream. This brought about bloody border 
fights, as the fertile lands became more and more populated and 
filled with French bases for military operations. 

The struggle, which ended the dispute for this coveted territory, 
began in 1753. wdien the French built forts on the land of the Ohio 
Company, an English firm holding a grant from the King to regions 
near the Ohio River. This corporation had been organized to set- 
tle the country and to trade in fur with the Indians. A road was 
opened for their operation from the headwaters oi the Potomac 
River, in Maryland, to the present site of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 
and some settlements were made along the river banks. In a short 
time thereafter a dispute arose with the French over one of the 
boundaries of this p'oint, and George Washington, then not more 
than twenty-three years of age, was sent by the Governor of Vir- 
ginia with a protest to the French commander, St. Pierre, stationed 
at Fort Lc P.euf. When Washington returned from what was then 
a long and perilous journey, he reported that the French not only 
refused to give up the disputed territory but were making warlike 
preparations for a struggle to keep it. Realizing that war was in- 
evitable, the English also began to make ready for it. They made 
an effort to dislodge the French from the property of the Ohio 

Company in 1754. In this they were unsuccessful. 

} 

Braddock's Campaign. 

i. 

Following the failure of the English colonists to take the dis- 
puted territory from the French, the mother country took a hand 
in the matter and early in 1755 sent over Gen. Braddock from Eng- 
land with three thousand picked veterans to take charge of military 
affairs and to direct an expedition against Fort Duquesne. Brad- 
dock reached Hampton Roads in February of the same year, and 
jjroceeding up the Potomac River, landed in Alexandria, Virginia. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 



^9 



Here, alter a ^^hort stay, during: which he held many discussions 
with several of the colonial governors as to the nianaijement of the 
war he was about to wage, he crossed the Potomac River, disem- 
barking at what was then Georgetown, Maryland, and started on a 
slow and roundabout march to Pennsylvania. Because of the con- 
dition oT the roads the army traveled only a few men deep and was 
consequently nearly four miles long. ^The baggage train was made 
up of two hund;:ed wagons and nearly twenty-five hundred horses. 
The commander-in-chief traveled in a' stately and very cumbersome 
coach which he had purchased in Alexandria. Many of the wag- 
oners a!; this time were Negroes.' Among them were Sandv Jen- 
kins, of Fairfax County. \'irginia. This man lived to be th? gVeat 
age of one hundred and fifteen, dying in Lancaster. Ohio, in Febru- 
ary, 1849. The legislative act through which he was doubtless en- 
listed has been referred to elsewhere in these pages. 

In the ranks led by-^raddock were several companies of Inde- 
pendents from South Carolina and New York. Black men were 
among their number and were with them when a halt was made at 
Fort Fredericktown. now Frederick, Maryland, on May lo, 1755. 
There they (black men) helped to clear ground and took part in a 
parade at two o'clock on the evening of that day. It is evident that 
Braddock picked up black recruits in several plapes on his line of 
march to Fort Duquesne. In Pennsylvania there was Capt. Jack, 
called "Black Jack" and sometimes "Susquehanna Jack." He was 
a well-known scout and a fearless Indian hunter of mixed blood. 
Caucasian and African. This man lived on the Juanita River, and 
his hatred for Indians was very great because his whole family had 
been murdered by them. He dressed as they did. and often with a 
band of followers made war upon them. He offered his services to 
Braddock gratuitously with those of his men, who were all familiar 
with the woods, if they might go as free lances in the expedition. 
Although Jack had already rendered personal service to no small 
degree as a guide to the general, his ofifer was not accepted by the 
strict disciplinarian. Pennsylvania sent another of her darkei sons 
in the person of Billy Brown, of Frankfort, to help in the attack on 
the French fortification. He was born in Africa and was brought 
to this country a slave. He was alive in 1826 at the age of ninety.' 
From Buck County in the same state came another Negro. Jack ^ 
Miner, who went as a recruit in the company of Capt. Walker, ^y 
There, too. were Abraham Lawrence and Archibald Kelso. 

When within eight miles oi the fort the English were attacked by 
the French and Indians. The Irish General, Braddock, had the 
niost pronounced objection to his men's fighting from behind trees, 



20 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

as was the American style, adopted from the savages, and they con- 
sequently fell into an ambuscade. Unnecessarily exposing himself 
to the foe, the leader had four horses shot under him. On the fifth 
he received a wound that ended his life. As he lay dying on the 
g'-ound he bequeathed to George Washington, Bisho)), a very digtii- 
fied black man, who is described as being the general's bodyguard. 
( Hhers of the same race as Bishop at this time with Washington 
were Gilbert and John Alton. 

Thk Surrender oi< Fort Duquesne. ' 

In 17.")G the British lost much that they had won in the vicmity 
of the Great Lakes, in the colony of New York, and thing? were 
not much better for them the following year. In 1758 three cam- 
fiaigns were planned. One of these was another attack on Fort 
Duquesne, which at that time was still in the hands of the French. 
The Virginia regiments of the army were then under the command 
of Washington. He arrived at Fort Cumberland (Cumberland, 
Maryland), on July 2nd. and began cutting the road to Raystown, 
now known as Bedford, Pennsylvania. This finished, he there 
awaited the approach of the rest of the army, under Gen. Forbes. 
In August of the same year (1758) thirteen colored men were in 
camp at this place, eight of whom were with the Royal American 
Regiment. In September three black men were reported as being 
connected with the Sixty-seventh Regiment, First Highlanders, in 
camp rit Raystown. All of the points mentioned were not Jar from 
Fort Duquesne. Raystown, however, not proving near enough to 
the coveted point for satisfactory military operation, another post 
was established at Loyal Hanna (Ligionier) with Col. Bouquet as- 
commander. He had here a force of two thousand men. A list, 
capulated "Effective Rank and File," reports that thirty-six Negroes 
were with these men under Col. Washington on October 21, 1758. 
It was on the 21:th of November that these black and white men of 
arms began their march to assail Fort Duquesne. When in sight of 
the place they discovered it was on fire. Its magazine had been 
l)lown up by the, French Vommanrler who, knowing the strength of 
the force proceeding against him, realized that there was nothing 
for him but defeat. 

/ 
Raids. 



D 
in 



During this period many unattached bands of Indians made raids 
various parts of the country, often unexpectedly, as allies of the 



MISSING PAOES IN AMERICAN ttlSTORV 21 

French, swooping down on the settlements of the EngHsh and reap- 
ing a bloody harvest. More than one of these outbreaks occurred 
in the neighborhood of Fort Cumberland, in Western iMaryland. 
On one occasion, to punish the redskins, a band of volunteers under 
Col. Creasap marched as far as what is now known as Negro -Moun- 
tain. With them was a black man of gigantic stature, who was 
killed on the mountain in the fierce fight that followed after they met 
the Indians. It is this event that iniimortalizes the name Negro on 
the ridge near the headwaters of the Potomac, for the high land has 
been called Negro Mountain ever since. 

Northern Campaigns, 

In the year 1758 new expeditions were also sent against Crown 
Point and Ticonderoga, both in the hands of the enemy, in Northern 
New York. The first of these fortifications was built by the French 
in 1741. During the conflict the English had made several previous 
efforts to secure it, always to fail. This time, however, thev out- 
numbered the enemy, whose commander, realizing his ina1)iiity to 
hold out against such a force, set the fort afire and then abandoned 
it. About the same time an advance was made upon Ticonderoga 
?nd the English secured it in much the same way. In their ranks on 
the occasion of both of these attacks were a number of Negroes from 
the northern colonies, especially Massachusetts. One of these is re- 
corded as Caesar , of Westfield, a private under Jedidiah 

Preeble, and another of the same race, from Hingham, bearmg a 
similar name. Black militiamen were seen also at this period at 
Fort Williams, a stockade on the road to Oswego, New York. This 
place was at the southwestern end 6i Lake George and was built 
in 1735. 

Until 1759 Canada was unreduced. That year eight thousand 
men, under Wolfe, fought the terrible battle of the Plains of Abra- 
ham, not far from the city of Quebec. Negroes were in this battle 
in more than one capacity. Among those who served as body serv- 
ants was Tony Proctor. He was only sixteen years of age at the 
time of the conflict. He lived to be a very old man, and died in 

Florida in 1855. Some of the privates were Pompey , a 

native of Guinea, who was sworn in in Capt. Maynard's company; 

Cuff , of Warren, who served His Majesty under Jeffrey 

Amherst, and Cuff , of the Second Massachusetts Regiment 

of Provincials. 

The next year France made an unsuccessful effort to regain her 
lost territory in America and New Jersey sent her black men into 
the ranks.. By an act of the legislature they were in 17G0 enlisted 



32 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

with their masters' consent. The same year an act of Parliament 
provided for the enlistment of servants as soldiers. For the serv- 
ices of such persons the masters were paid by the recruiting officers 
out of the public funds. 

The war continued until ITOo, but the English were then too 
strong to lose what had fallen into their hands. A treaty of peace, 
signed that same year, made Great Britain the mistress of all of the 
land east of the Mississippi River and north of the Iberville in 
Louisiana. As has been said, there were many Negroes in this war. 
They came especially from the northern colonies to help the E»g- 
lish win their victory. Many-^were enrolled in the colony of Mas- 
sachusetts simply as Caesar, and many are the ways of spelling that 
name, for black men described as privates in muster rolls are re- 
portetl as Caesar, Caezer, Cesar, Cezar, Sarser, Seazon, Eunta, 
Ceser, Ceezer, Seasar, Ceasar, Ceazer, Sarser, v^eazon and Augustus. 



\ 



MISSING PAOKS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 23 

CRISPUS ATTUCKS IN THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 

Scarcely had the curtain fallen upon the closing scene of the 
French and Indian War before the first act of the Revolutionary 
struggle began, for although five years elapsed between the firing 
of the guns that were heard around the world from Concord Bridge 
and the Battle of Bunker Hill, many historians concede that the 
fight for American independence really began when the blood of 
Crispus Attucks was shed upon the streets of Boston. 

The Stamp Act, duties laid upon glass and tea, the dissolution of 
the Massachusetts Assembly by the English king, the Billotmg Act, 
which forced the Americans to lodge and feed British troopsrwere 
all sources of great aggravation to the colonists, especially to those 
residing in Boston. They revolted against these acts of tyranny to 
such a degree that they incurred the displeasure of their king and 
he determined to humiliate them. To that end, in the fall of 1708. 
he sent over four regiments of British troops, numbering seven hun- 
dred men. These were stationed in Boston, under Gen. Gage. Be- 
tween the soldiers and the people of the town there were clashes con- 
tinually, even the boys were not unmolested. 

The climax to these rows, which ended on March the fifth, 1770, 
began thiee days earlier, when a soldier applied for employment at 
the rope works of John Gray. This fellow was sent away with 
rough language, after having been beaten in a boxing match which 
occurred at his own challenge. Later in the day he returned with 
several of his comrades to renew the altercation, but they, too, were 
driven ofif. The soldiers, upon learning of this matter, felt 'hat an 
indignity had been placed upon their regiment and determined to 
meet the citizens in an efl^ort to remove it. They were considerate 
enough, however, to warn the people for \yhom they had any friend- 
liness to keep oflf of the streets. It was not long before the feelings 
of both populace and soldiers were in a seething state and very un- 
pleasant events occurred during the next two days. Men who 
should have been in their quarters at night were in the streets after 
dark harrassing the citizens, both in trade ^and out-of-door inter- 
course. Early on the evening of the fifth a c^uarrel took place be- 
tween a barber's boy and a redcoat, when the latter was accused by 
the former of not having paid his bill for a hair cut. The boy re- 
ceived a blow, on the head for this taunt which made him cry out 
with pain. Following this event a number of soldiers came up, 
threatening to kill every one in sight, and another boy was knocked 
down. By this time the excitement was so great that the alarm 
bell at the head of King street was rung. Thi.s, of course, brought 



24 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

out a number of people, both citizens and English troops. Partly 
through the interference of well-disposed officers and partly through 
the courage of Crispus Attucks, a mulatto, this afifray was soon over. 

The indignation of the populace was at high pitch, however, ami , 
while some of the cooler heads were for going home, many others 
were for an immediate attack upon the quarters of the main-guard, 
or the "Nest," as they called it. located on the green or common. So 
bent on avenging their wrongs and "led'' by Attucks. the wrathful 
townfolk pressed on, the crowd growing larger and la^-ger each min- 
ute. Many boys and youths fell into line. Some, like the barber's 
boy, fomenting their anger as they proceeded by the recital of per- 
sonal afTronts from the .soldiers. Up what was then King street 
Ihey went, crying out, "Let us drive out these ribalds. They have 
no business here." At the custom house the band, still led ,by the 
mulatto, assailed the sentinel with snowballs, pieces of ice or any- 
thing else that could be used as missies. So. furiously did they do 
this that their victim called for the guard, and the corporal and a 
few soldiers were sent to protect him. These were met by the patri- 
ots, who in warm language dared them to fire. As a result the noise 
and confusion were terrific. Men howled and swore, and bell'^ rang. 
The soldiers awaited the order to fire, knowing full well that under 
existing circumstancs it should come from a civil magistrate. It is 
impossible to tell whether Attucks and those with him knew this 
fact or not. At any rate he. with twelve of the men, began to strike 
upon the muskets of the soldiers with clubs and to taunt them with 
being afraid to fire and crying to the people behind them, "Be not 
afraid; they dare not fire. Why do you hesitate? Why do you not 
kill them? Why not crush them at once?'' Whereupon Capt. 
Preston came up and attempted to disperse the crowd. Attucks 
struck at the English officer's head, who warded ofif the blow with 
his hand. Just then a soldier's musket fell to the ground' and At- 
tucks seized it. A struggle followed between the two men for its 
possession, and the owner was either knocked down or else he fell 
to the ground. At this time voices in the crowd took up the cry, 
"Why don't you fire?" Upon hearing these words the soldier, 
struggling to his feet, fired as he arose, and the brave Crispus, lean- 
ing upon a stick, received two balls in each breast. These caused his 
death. More firing occurred and three others were immediately 
killed. They were Caldwell, "Maverick and Gray. Five persons 
were dangerously injured and several slightly hurt. 

The dead men were regarded as heroes and a public funeral was 
given them, the rites being celebrated in the most solemn manner 
as a manifestation of the sorrow and the regret felt by the people for 
their death. The service for all three* of them was held at the sarri'; 



MISSING PAGKS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 25 

hour in Faneiiil Hall on the eighth of March, the bells of Roxbur>. 
Boston and of Charlestown being tolled meanwhile. The three pro 
cessions, made up of carriages in which rode distinguished men and 
friends of the victims, met at King street and wound their wav ti:* 
Middle Burying Ground on Tremont street, a few steps from, the 
head of the Boston Common. Here the bodies were interred in one 
tomb, located in the extreme northeastern corner of the cemetery. 

\^ery Httle more than this is known concerning the black hero of 
this event. He was born about 1728 in the vicinity of Cochetuate 
Lake, Framingham, Mass., of probably Negro and Indian pareutage. 
He escaped from slavery in this locality in 1750. He was a well- 
proportioned mulatto with curly hair. At the time cf his death he 
was forty-seven years of age. 

The spot on which Attucks fell, located on what is now State 
street, somewhat to the east of the old State House, is today marketl 
by an airow embedded in the sidewalk. On the Boston Common 
stands a monument of granite erected in honor of the men who fell 
in the m.assacre. One side of this memorial bears this quotation 
from Daniel Webster, "From that moment we may date the sever- 
ance of the British Empire," and this one from John Adams, "On 
that night the foundation of American independence was laid." 
On the other faces of the monument may be read, respectively, the 
date of its erection and the name of the fallen heroes, with the time 
of their death. After the Boston J\Iassacre March hfth was always 
glorified by patriotic celebrations each year until the Declaration of 
Independence took its place. Attucks always received due credit 
for his patriotism on these occasions from even such men as Han- 
cock and Washington, while in 1773 John Adams addressed in the 
Bame of the nnilatto. the following letter to the Tory governor, 
Hutchinson, who still continued the persecution of the colonists. 

"You shall hear from us with astonishment. You ought 
to hear from us with horror. You are charged before God 
and man with our blood. The soldiers were but passionate 
instruments, mere machines, neither moral nor voluntary 
instruments, in our destruction, more than the leaden bul- 
lets with which we were wounded. You were a free agent. 
You acted coolly, deliberately, with all that premeditated 
malice not against us in particular but against the people in 
general, which in the sight of the law is an ingredient in 
the composition of murder. You will hear from us here- 
aftei. 
(Signed) Crispus Attucks. 



^ " 



*The bodv of one was claimed by friends and buried out of 
Boston. 



a6 Missing pA(iss iK American history 



NEGROES IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

I 

MaSSACITUSI'TTS. 

i 

The five years sul)sequent to the Boston Massacre saw i smoul- 
dering fire of sentiment, growing larger and larger in all of the col- 
onies in favor of independoiice from the mother country. In ]\Tas- 
sachusetts, by the spring of 1775. preparations had already begun 
for the war which the provincials felt was inevitable. Military 
stores had been collected and men drilled upon many village greens. 
Shortly after midnight on April 18th of that year a detachment of 
English soldiers left Boston to go to Concord that they might there 
destroy'a supply of cannon, sjnall arms and ammunition store^l in-^ 
that place by the Committee on Public Safety. To prevent this, 
companies of men ready to respond on the mfnute, hence called 
Minute Men, came out of every farm and village along the line of 
march taken by these troops. Negroes. Nbond and free, were among 
this band of defenders. Boston alone had many free colored people 
and over two thousand slaves at this time, to say nothing of Cam- 
bridge and the other towns along the road to Concord. The wrath- 
ful Americans met the British, first on Lexington Common, where 
a short skirmish occurred, in which several of the former lost their 
lives and the result was a defeat for the colonists. As they took up 
the march to Concord many recruits entered their ranks. Among 
them was a Negro, Peter Salem, of Framingham. He entered the 
ranks of the little band of patriots as a Minute Man, and when 
they met the foe on Concord Bridge he, with the black-man, Samuel 
Craft, of Newton, and a number of others of their race, helped the 
sturdy American farmers win a victory which forced the British 
to retreat to Boston. In that city, by* April 38 of the same yeaiy 
three thousand r^egulars were blockaded by these farmers. 

i 

The Battle of Bunker Hill. 

\ 
I 

In a very short while the English holdings in Boston were very 
much strengthened by reinforcements from England, and the Amer- 
icans realized that it would be to their advantage to have fortified 
some point from which they might overlook the city and the liarbor. 
Their c::mp was on the Cambridge Common, and Cambridge lay to 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORV 2? 

the west of Boston, across the Charles River. Of all the points of 
elevation nearby, Breed's Hill, on the Charlestown side of the 
stream, was considered most' favorable to this end. It happened, 
then, that on June sixteenth one thousand of the colonials secretly 
left, their camp and proceeded by a mistake to Bunker Hill, there to 
build a redoubt. When the clock struck the hour of midnight, so 
swift were their movements that they had already unslung their 
packs and were stacking their arms. The before-mentioned Peter 
Salem was there, as were also the black men, Titus Coburn and Sey- 
mour Burr, of Andovcr ; Grant Cooper and Cato Howe, the latter 
all the way up from Plymouth. There was also Charlestown Eads. 
shouldering his pick with the well-known "spirit of '7G." He en- 
tered the army at the very beginning of the trouble and was after- 
wards in Col. Bigelow's company of the Fifteenth Massachusetts. 
He was not discharged until December o, 1780. Barzillai Lew , the v 
giant cooper, born at Chelmsford, was there, too. "^ Tie later became 
a famous musician in the Continental Army, in the Twenty-seventh 
Regiment under Capt. Ford. He had served in this capacity in the 
French and Indian War. He it was who organized for guerrilla 
warfare at a later period of the struggle a band of Negro men. all 
of one family, known as Lew's men. He was later in the engage- 
ment which took place at Ticonderoga and remained in the ranks 
until 1777. There also was S ampson Talber t, of Bridge-water, 
helping to throw up the hillocks on Bunker Hill that warm night in 
early June. He afterwards spoke of this service as the "hottest 
day's work he had ever done." These men were all pensioners at - 
the close of the war. So well did the black and the white compatri- 
ots work, and so quietly, that the English knew n-othing of their 
nearness until daylight the next day, when the outworks were al- 
most closed. By an army twice the size of their own the Ame icans 
were attacked on the 17th day of June, and the terrible battle of 
Bunker Hill occurred, "in which the dead lay as thick as sheep in the 
fold," says one writer. Indeed, each army lost nearly a third of its 
number. ' Among those who fell on the American side v.-as the ^ 
Negro, Caesar Brown, of Westford. Twice were the American ' 
farmers able to repel the British before they themselves rerreated, 
and this they did only when powder and shot were all gone and . 
there was nothing left with which to fight except butts and barrels 
of guns. After the brave Warren had fallen, the English mounted 
the' hill in the wake of their commander. Maj. Pitcairn, who as he 
came, waving his swoTd, exclaimed, "The day is ours." It was then 
that the black Peter Salem seized another's gun, his own having 
been lost in battle, and shot the Englishman, who fell dying in the 



28 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

arms of his son, who was just behind him. For this deed of valor 
V/' Salem received a contribution from the army and was later pre- 
sented t(; Gen. Washington. Salem was born a slave. Besides the 
engagements already referred to, he was present at the battles of 
Saratoga and of Stony Point, with many others of his race. He 
served "as a faithful soldier in the regiment of Col. Nixon." After 
the war was over he resided a long time in Leisester, Massachu- 
setts, on a road named in his honor, leading to Auburn. He finally 
removed to his native town, Framingham, where he died August 16. 
^^1816. There he is buried in an old cemetery. In 18S3, at a cost of 
\/ one hundred and fifty dollars, the town folks erected a monument 
three feet high, of Middlesex granite, in his honor. This gives in- 
formation concerning the battles in which he fought and calls him a 
"Soldier of the Revolution." For many years an old bank in 
Charlestown, the Monumental, as well as the Freedmen's Bank of 
/ Boston, commemorated his deed by placing his picture upon their 
bank notes. A painting of the battle of Bunker Hill, made by an 
eye witness, shows the likeness of Salem. Among the other black 
men present at the battle of Bunker Hill were Caesar Basom, of 
Westford; Alexander Eames, of Boston; Saesar Jahar, of Natick ; 

Cuff Blanchard and Caesar Post, of Andover, and Gushar, 

of Framingham. Caesar Basom lost his lie in the engagement. He 
was at first a private in the company of Capt. John Mino, and 
marched with these men to Lexington from Westford. In the action 
on Bunker Hill he was in the company of Capt. Weyman. As he 
fired his last charge of powder, exclaiming, "Now, Caesar, give them 
some more," he was shot and fell dead into the trenches. He was a 
stripling of twenty-two. Another colored man who distinguished 
I'.imself in the battle fought on the little hill at Charlestown was 
Salem Poor. He killed Lieut. Col. Abercrombie, of the British Reg- 
ulars, as the latter sprang on the redoubt and shouted, "Surrender, 
you rebels." A petition in favor of Salem Poor was sent to the gen- 
tial court of Massachusetts six months after the battle was ^ought, 
signed by some of the principal officers. It read as follows: 
» 
"The subscribers beg leave to report to your Honorable 
Hous^, which we do in justice to the character of so brave 
a man, that under our own observation we declare that a 
Negro, called Salem Poor, of Col. Fry's regiment, Capt. 
Eames' company, in the late battle of Charlestown, be- 
hfcved like an experienced officer, as well as an excellent 
soldier. To set forth the particulars of his conduct would 
be tedious. We only beg leave to say, in the person of the 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 2$ 

said Negro is set forth a braxc and gallanl soldier. The 
reward due so great and distinguished a character we sub- 
mit to Congress. 

Jonah Brew, Colonel, 
Ephm Corey, Lieutenant, 
Joshua Row, Lieutenant, 
Jonas Richardson, Captain, 
JosiAH Foster, Captain, / 
' John Morton, Sergeant, 
Thomas Nixon, Lieut. Colonel, 
Joseph Barker, Lieutenant, 
William Prescott, Colonel, 
Eliaphalett Bodwell, Sergeant, 
Ebenezer Varnum, 2nd Lieutenant, 
William H. Vallard, Captain, 
Richard Walsh, Lieuteufint, 
William Smith, Captain. 

"In council, December 21, 177.J. Read and sent down. 

"Perez AIorton, Secretary." 

Salem Poor did duty at Fort George, Ticonderoga, Valley Forge 
and White Plains. His term of enlistment did not expire untl 1780. 

Negroes Excluded From and Rc-Bnlisted in the Army. 

I 
The colonists, realizing that war was upon them, bent every cflfort 
that theirs might be the victory at its close. Washington took com- 
mand of the Continental Army on July 3, 1775. There he found much " 
to do in the wayof organization. In its ranks, as has already been 
said, were many Negroes. \'ery soon the consistency of eniDloying 
slaves in the fight for liberty became a much debated question on 
the part of those in authority. So, despite their manifestations of 
courage at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, a committee ap- 
pointed to consider the matter resolved that all black men be ex- 
cluded from tlie army, except those who were free, declaring that a 
participation in this tight by any others would be a reflection on the 
jionor of the colony. On the passage of this act many slaves were 
emancipated that they might enlist, and this they did in very large 
numbers. In a short time objection was again raised to the pres- 
ence of Negroes in the army, and a committee, made up of Benjamin 
Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Kench and the Deputy Gov- 
ernors of Rhode Island and Connecticut, which convened October. 
1775, to consider the condition of the army and to plan for its im- 



30 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

provement, reconi;iieiulc(l fliat all black men be excluded from its 
lanks. Washington endorsed this decision. This act. however, met 
slroug protest from the officers and men who had served with per- 
sons of color, to say nothing of the expressions of dissatisfaction 
made by the latter^ themselves. They even appealed for the annul- 
ment of this law. About this time an affair occurred in Virginia 
v.-hich materially changed things in Massachusetts as far as black 
roldiers were concerned. This was the hearty response on th.e part 
of black men to an invitation, through a proclamation of Lord Dun- 
more, the Tory governor of that colony, to its slaves to enter the 
Ministerial Army with the promise of freedom. These men dis- 
tinguished themselves like soldiers at the battle of Kemp's Landing, 
the present site of Kempville, \'irginia, located t)etween Norfolk 
and the sea. This engagement occurred between the Loyalists and 
the Federalists. These facts being made known to the Commander- 
in-chief of the American Army, he decided to ignore the exclusion 
act and ordered that Negroes be re- enlisted, unless otherwise sodi- 
dected by Congress. Thus it came about that they were re-employed 
and Congress endorsed this policy on January 1(). 177G. by an act 
of legislation which was never thereafter set aside. Through all 
the ensuing years of the war they entered the ranks and not a reg- 
iment was seen in which there was not a goodly number "of the 
able-bodied, strong fellows." 

i 

I 

fortifications at Dorchester and Castle Ishnicl. 

Tn the first winter of the war occurred the Seige of Boston. A 
number of the boats of the enemy were then in the harbor, whose 
waters roared at the end of many of the streets of Boston. That the 
foe might not make a contemplated landing at Dorchester, a village 
adjoining this city, the Americans decided to make a fortification 
there. So one night early in March they sent a force whose van- 
^;uard numbered eight hundred men with tools and carts to the high- 
lands overlooking Dorchester Bay. These men, many of wdiom 
were Negroes, among them being Primus Hall and James Easton. 
of Bridgewater. under the direction of Putnam, i)iled up apple 
boughs from the nearby orchards to make hurdles and fascines. On 
these they set bales of hay. packing them tightly to make them can- 
non-proof. They had also not far away a collection of barrels of 
sand and stones which they intended to roll down U])on the enemy 
should thev come near enough from their ships in the harbor. It 
was this action that made Gen. Howe's position in Boston untenable. 

At this period Negroes also aided in throwing up fortifications 
at Castle Island, another point in the Boston Harbor. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 3I 



« 



Separate Companies of Negroes. 

In the spring of the same year Thomas Kench. then an officer in 
the regiment of artillery, stationed at Castle Island, wished to raise 
an^ have command of a body of two or three hundred colored men, 
"Sergeants, corporals, drummers and hfers," as he said, "all to be of 
the same race." These men were to be set free at the end of their 
services. Concerning the matter, he addressed the following letter 
to the General Assembly : 

\ _ 
"* * * And what I refer to is Negroes. We have 
divers of them in our service, mixed with white men. But 
I think it would be more proper to raise a body by them- 
selves than to have them intermixed with white men, and ■ 
their ambition would be entirely to outdo the men in every 
measure that the fortune of war causes a soldier to endure. 
And I could rely with dependence on them in the field of 
battle, or to any post that I was sent to defend with them, 
and they would think themselves happy could they gain 
their freedom by bearing a part of subduing the enemy 
that is invading our land and thus secure a peaceful in- 
heritance. The method that I would point out of raising a 
detachment of Negroes is that a company should consist of 
one hundred, including a commissioned officer, and that the 
^. ' command should be white and consist of one captain, one 
captain-lieutenant, two second lieutenants, two orderly 
sergeants, all white, and three sergeants, four corporals, 
two drummers and fifers, all black, and eighty-four rank 
and file. These should engage to serve to the end of the 
war and then be free men." 
A committee of both houses of legislature, acting upon this let- 
ter, advised its adoption. It, however, came about that Kench at 
no time ever had command of a colored company, and yet one or 
two companies of this kind were created. Samuel Lawrence, of 
Groton, had charge of one of these, whose courage, fi'lelity and mil- 
itary discipline won a high degree of respect for them from their 
leader. Once while in an engagement he was surrounded by the 
enemy who was about to capture him. His brave followers, dis- 
covering his plight, rushed to his rescue and succeeded in saving 
their leader. For this deed of theirs Lawrence showed special con- 
sideration to all of the members of their race whom he happened 
to meet in the future. The County of Barnstable, Massachusetts, 
furnished a number of black men to serve in the Revolutionary 



32 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY ^ 

War. These men were of mixed blood, Indian and African. They 
formed a separate company and all save one lost their lives before 
the conflict ended. Among them were Francis Wcbsquish, Samuel 
Moses, Demps Squibbs, Mark Negro, Tom Caesar, Joseph Ashur, 
James Keeter, Joseph Keeter, Daniel Pockknitz and Joe Rimmon. 
.There was also another colored company commanded by a man 
of color by the name of Middleton. He was a noted horse breaker. 
These men, who called themselves the Bucks of America, rendered 
such meritorious service that at the close of the war they received 
a banner. This was presented to them by Gen. Hancock. When on 
a march to a neighboring town to a collation to which they had been 
invited they were asked to stop in front of the governor's mansion 
in Boston,' and that gentleman and his son came out of the house 
and presented the banner. Their prize is yet in existence. While 
it was probably a cream-colored silk, it is now of a bufif color. It 
!<: five feet, three inches long and three and one-half feet wide. In 
the upper left-hand corner there are thirteen golden stars upon a 
blue field. In the center is painted a pine tree, under which, in the 
act of leaping, is a brown buck. Above the tree is a short scroll 
which bears the initials '*J. G. W. H."* Below it is a long open 
scroll which stretches very nearly the full length of the design. Upon 
its blue field the words "Bucks of America" are printed. The flag 
or banner was undoubtedly painted by hand and is an excellent 
sample of the artistic handwork done in colonial days. 

Among the many blacks who fought in ranks with white men 
were Abel Benson, a farmer's boy of sixteen, who enlisted in Fram- 
ingham and served three years; Tony Clark, of Billeirica, who en- 
listed at the age of nineteen and served from 177G to 1788 ; the two 
Blys, of Rochester, who were likely related, and Bedunah I\Ioses, 
of Springfield, who took part in the capture of Peekskill, New York, 
and did extra duty under Gen. Glover. There, too, was Pomp 
Jackson, liberated for the consideration of five shillings, which he 
paid to his master himself in June. 1776. He served through the 
entire war. At its close he settled in Andover, near a pond ever 
since then called "Pomp's Pond." A black member of Washing- 
ton's bodyguard from the Bay State was Tobias Gilmore. He en- 
listed as a private in 177(), in the regiment of Col. George Williams. 
Gilmore was born an African prince. His native name was Shil 
bogee Turry-Werry. He was sold on the auction block at Newport 
as a slave to Capt. Gilmore, of Taunton, from whose home he en- 
tered the war as a substitute in order to secure his freedom. On 



*Hancock's initials. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN 'HISTORY 33 

his discharge from the army, as a reward for faithful service, he re- 
ceived a section of land and a cannon. Each Independence Day it 
was Tobias' custom to take the cannon to the Taunton Green and 
fire once for each of the thirteen original states and o.ice for "Massa 
Washington." He put an end to his patriotic demonstrations only 
when a man's arm was shot off. He then said he "guessed he'd 
better stop," and presented the gun to the historical society, whose 
property it is today.* In their museum may be seen also a liberty 
cap and a blue coat trimmed with buff. These articles are a part 
of the uniform worn by Tobias Gilmore in the Revolutionary War. 
On the red cap are the words, "Federalism and Liberty," inscribed 
in white letters on a blue ground. 

Vermont. 

Slavery as an institution never reached any importance in Ver- 
mont, for by the census of 1790 there were only seventeen bond 
men in this state. Here, as elsewhere, however, early in, the Revo- 
lutionary struggle black men were set free that they might enlist 
and were given a certificate of manumission by their masters, who 
in turn received the bounty money paid for them by the state. 

Nkw Hampshire. 

While the number of Negroes residing in the state of New 
Hampshire was always very small, many of those who were there 
were called upon to do duty in the time of the War for American 
Independence. By an act passed early in the history of the conflict 
black men entered the ranks of the colonial army. Among these 
were Jude Hall, born in Exeter. He served eight years in all, and 
tought in a great number of battles, beginning with that on Bunker 
Hill. Until the day of his death he was known as "Old Rock." 
Lemuel Haines was another native of this state who enrolled as a 
Minute Man as early as 1774, when preparations for the war to 
come were just beginning to go forward. He was at the Battle of 
Lexington and later became a volunteer in the ranks of the regu- 
lars. He took part in the expedition to Ticonderoga against Bur- 
goyne in 1777. He remained in the service until the war ended. 
There, too, was Boston Pickering, who enlisted as a lad of twenty 
in the first regiment of militia of New Hampshire. 

*1918. ^ 



r 



34 missing pages in american history 

Rhod]]; Ist.and. 

The Battle of Port Mercer or Red Bank. 

In 1777. after the Battle of Braiidywine, the British planned to 
clear out the forts, fortifications and flotilla placed on the Delaware 
River by the Americans. This thing they very mucli desired to do 
in the hope of establishing communications between their fleets and 
that part of their army occupying Philadelphia. To this end they 
decided to storm Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer, both located in New 
Jersey. The latter was on the side of the river at what is now the 
town of Red Bank, and was rather important because it protected 
the stream. At this time two Rhode Island regiments under Col. 
Greene and belonging to that part of the army supervised bv Gen. 
\'arnum, were stationed at this place. On October twenty-first 
Count Donup, with four batalions of Hessians, crossed the Dela- 
ware at Cooper's Ferry and marched to Fort Mercer. On the way 
they met an old Negro called "Old Mitch," whom they tried to se- 
cure as a guide to the American stronghold, but in this they were 
unsuccessful. They came upon the place, however, on the morning 
of the twenty-second. It was defended by four hundred and twenty 
men. A Hessian oifficer approached the fort and oi'dered its surren- 
der in the name of the English king. Col. Greene refused to obey 
and his refusal was reported to Dunop. The attack upon the forti- 
fication began that afternoon. The Americans left the north side 
of the fort late in the day. When this fact was discovered by the 
enemy they rushed triumphantly into the place under the impres- 
sion that the former had deserted it. Just as they were about to 
i:'lace their flag upon the merlon* of the ramparts they were sur- 
lirised by a shower of grape shot and musket balls from the em- 
brasures which annihilated them. Another division, under Col. 
Dunop himself, received the same sort of treatment on the south 
side of Fort Mercer, thereby suffering a terrible loss through the 
rapid fire of the Americans. The commander was left upon the 
field mortally wounded. A large number of the men with Col. 
Greene at this time were either blacks or mulattos, who by tliis bat- 
tle helped to bring to a close the efiforts of the British to approach 
any further inlaml against Washington before the beginning of the 
winter. This was very fortunate, for the American armv was at 
that time undergoing many hardships. During the bombardment 
"Old Mitch" lay hidden in a pile of straw not far away from the 
fort. 



*A battlement. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 35 

Sepat-ate Rhode IsUtitd Regiments;. ' " : 

Tn of (Jet- to raise- her requi'fed quota it came about the next year 
(1778) that Rhode Tslaud. at the request of Gen. Vainum, formed 
•a battalion composed entirely of Negroes. These men numbered 
some three hundred black and mulatto slaves. The legislative act 
calling them into service provided that these soldiers should enjoy 
all the compensation given to white soldiers, that they should serve 
through the war, and that their masters should be relieved of all 
future responsibility for their support should they be disabled or 
live to advanced age. The state, in either of these cases, was to 
assume their care.' It also arranged for their appraisement and for 
ti compensation which their masters were- to receive upon their en- 
tering the army. This battalion distinguished itself more than once, 
but it attained its crowning glory in the Battle of Rhode Island, 
fought on hills and in dales around Providence and Newport. It 
was on a hot summer day in August, 1778, that they went into this 
battle. The English were assisted by their famous hired soldiers^ 
the Hessians. These were a body of Germans from Hesse Cassel, 
Germany. These men were very brave and very fierce fighters. At 
one point they charged down the hill with such force as to almost 
varry the redoubt. It was in repelling these furious onsets that the 
Jiewiv raised regiments under Col. Greene distinguished themselves 
by deeds of desperate valor. "They three times drove back the 
Hessians, and so determined were they in these successive charges 
that the day after the battle the Hessian colonel upon, whom that 
duty devolved applied to exchange his command and go to New 
York because he dared not again lead his regiment lest his men 
should kill him for having occasioned them so grave a loss." Lafay- 
ette called this the best-fought action of the war. The slaughter 
was terrible. The British lost thirteen hundred, the Americans two 
hundred and eleven men. This engagement enabled the Americans 
\o leave the island, not a bit too soon, for early the next morning 
the English were reinforced by a large fleet commanded bv Sir 
Henry Clinton. A part of the Rhode Island Negro battalion came 
in prominently for heroism on May 14, 1781, at Font's Bridge, on 
the Croton River, in the state of New York. Here some of these 
men defended their beloved Col. Greene so well that it was only 
ever their dead bodies that the enemy reached and murderd him. 
In February. 1783, some of them went with a body of New York 
troops, under Col. Willett, to attack a British trading point on Lake 
Omtario Through the treacherv or ignorance of an Indian this 
c.Tndertaking was unsuccessful, these men had a very good appear- 
^;i?ce. It is said that they did not receive their promised bounty 



3^ MISSING PAGES INj AMERICAN HISTORY 

money, but were told to accept their freedom instead of it. They did 
not secure the allowance due them such as was given to white sol- 
diers, but were deprived of their wages by means of forged orders. 
Among them were Scipio Brown, Thomas Brown, Prince Vaughan, 
Sampson Hazard, Guy Watson, Richard Rhodes, Henry laber. 
Cuff Green, Thomas Rhodes, Blato Green, Prince Green, Prince 
Jenks, Reubin Roberts, Philo Phillips, Caesar Powers, York Chap- 
Jin, Ichabod Northrup, Richard Cousins (hfer). 

The Capture of Gen. Prescott. 

In connection with the services of colored men of Rhode Island 
must be given the story of Prince Whipple, or Jack Sissons, as he 
is sometimes called. Several diaries of the Revolution prove be- 
yond a doubt that this black man helped to capture the English gen- 
eral, Prescott, July t), 1777. It happened that some time before this 
date Gen. Lee liad been ordered to bring his detachment of the army 
into the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia. This he had failed to 
do and had established his headquarters in the mountains of New 
Jersey at Basken Ridge, about twenty miles from a British camp. 
Peeling that he was so far away from the enemy that he needed to 
use no precautions for his safety, he retained only a small body- 
guard near him, while the main body of his troops were in camp 
several miles away. The British learned of this fact through 
Tories/-and overcoming his sentinels Gen. Ilarcourt easily brought 
about Lee's arrest and conducted him, a prisoner, to British 'head- 
■ quarters in New York, where he was closely confined. The military 
skill of this American officer was so highly esteemed by his country- 
men that his capture caused the greatest consternation and regret 
among them, and they greatly desn-ed his release. In order to se- 
cure this it was planned to take a man of equal rank from the foe, 
that Lee might be sfet free through an exchange of prisoners. To 
this end Lieut. Barton designed the seizure of Gen. Prescott, who 
had charge of the British forces on Rhode Island. He had landed 
5. large number of troops at Newport in December, 1776, that they 
might be retained there to operate against the New England States. 
Finding out through a deserter from the British ranks the exact 
location of the English general, Barton, accompanied by fortv men, 
one at least of whom was a Negro, started on his expedition. The 
Americans landed within five miles of the place, and when near the 
residence of a Quaker, with whom the general was staying, Barton, 
with Prince Whipple and a few others of his men, proceeded to the 
house, having left his main party in concealment. The sentmel at 
the door challenged him, but after a short parley he was overpow- 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 37 

ered and ordered, upon pain of death, to. he silent. The rest of the 
men answering to an expected given signal, then surrounded the 
dwelling. The Negro, with two strokes of his head, forced an entry 
into the house, and the landlord then came upon the scene" Ques- 
tioned as to the whereabouts of Prescott, he refused to give any in- 
formation concerning the Englishman, but when threatened with 
death he pointed to the door of the officer's room. This was at once 
opened by Prince Whipple through the same process that he had 
used upon the front door. The general was then informed that he 
was a prisoner and he surrendered without resistance to the Amer- 
icans. Through his capture Lee was released. Jack Sisson, or 
Prince Whipple, who certainly helped to bring this event to pass, 
was a slave, the property of Gen. Whipple, of the American army! 
He was born in Africa, was kidnapped and sold in Baltimore. It is 
his likeness that is often seen in old paintings of Washington cross- 
ing the Delaware. 

) CONNi;CTlCUT. 

Many Connecticut Negroes entered the army during the War of 
the Revolution. Long after the struggle was over almost every 
white family had its tradition of a slave or a servant who had either 
been killed in some battle, or who, having served through the war, 
had come home to tell stories of hard fighting and to he pensioned. 
A number of these men were enlisted as substitutes in place of 
their masters. The recruiting officer lost little time inquiring if his 
recruits were white or black, and he did not question their legal 
status if they were able-bodied. Alost of these men were placed 
in the ranks with white men, but in the year 1777 the advisability 
of raising companies of colored troops was discussed in the General 
Assembly of this state, and a committee was appointed to consider the 
matter. The result of the deliberation of this body was a recom- 
mendation that Negro and mulatto slaves whose masters were to be 
paid the sum of their appraisement, and who themselves upon en- 
listing would become free, should be formed into a separate com- 
pany. Following this a company of fifty-six men was organized 
in this state. They were commanded by Col. Humphrey, who vol- 
unteered to do so after many other officers, upon request, bad re- 
fused to take charge of them. They were in Butler's regiment, in 
that division of the army over which Maj. Laurens had charge. 
"They conducted themselves with fidelity and efficiency through the 
war." Their names are as follows: 

Jack Arabus, Ned Fields, Louis Martin, Peter Mix, Prince 
jGecrge, Shugael Johnson, Dick Violet, Gamaliel Bagden, Ned Free- 



I 

3^ MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

dom, Congo Zado, Pomp Liberty, Sharp Rogers, Cuff Freeman, 
Andrew Jack, Peter Lyon, Daniel Bradley, Sharp Camp, Solomon 
Sowtice, Pomp Cyrus, John Cleveland, Phineas Strong, Juba Free- 
man, Philo Freeman, Prince Crosbee, Jack Little, Alex Judd, Leut 
Munson, Ezekiel Tupham, Peter Gibbs, Cuff Liberty, Job Caesar, 
Juba Dyer, Peter Morando, Samson Cuff, Dick Freeman, Joe Otis, 
Cato Wilbrow, Pomp Freeman, Hector Williams, Isaac Higgins, 
Caesar Chapman, Cato Robinson, Tim Caesar, Bill Soweis, Caesar 
Bagden, Herman Rogers, Tom Freeman, Prince Johnson, Harry 
AVilliams, John Rogers, John Ball, John McLean, Jesse Vose, Pomp 
McCuff, James Dinah, Brewster Baker. 

While it is impossible to know the exact number, some hundreds 
of dark men enlisted in this state in mixed companies, among these 
were Sambo Lathon, or Lambert, and Jordan Freeman, both of 
whom fought with the bravest at Groton after the Americans had 
been forced to retreat to that place from New London. In Septem- 
ber, 1778, after a terrible engagement at Fort Griswold, on the 
heights of Groton, the fortification was surrendered by Col. Led- 
yard, the commander in charge. The English officer who took the 
fort committed the unwarrantable atrocity of stabbing him. It was 
Lathon who quickly avenged this unusual act by running his bayonet 
through the Briton. For this deed he received thirty thrusts from 
the enemy's bayonets. On the same occasion Jordan Freeman re- 
ceived the victorious Maj. Montgomery on his pike as the latter was 
lifted over the wall of the fortress. 

I\Iany slaves, who entered the conflict under a promise of freedom, 
had to petition the Connecticut Legislature for the same after it was 
over. Nineteen of them were not pensioned until the year 1818. 
t)ne of these was Prime Babcock, who held a discharge in the hand- 
writing of Washington. 

New York. 

Battle of Stony Point. 

There were many desirable places for fortificatiotis on the Plud^ 
son River. One of these was at Stony Point, on the west side of 
the stream, on a great highway connecting the Middle and the New 
England States. Nature had protected this point on three sides by 
the river and on the fourth by a swamp which could be crossed at 
low tide by a causeway. The Americans had lost a stronghold here 
in 1777, and they were very desirous of regaining it. Gen. Anthony 
Wayne was appointed by Washington for this exploit. Learning 
that Pom"J)ey Lamb, a Negro living on a nearby farm, visited the 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN ttlSTORV 39 

fort regularly to sell fresh vegetables and berries, >Vayne decided 
to employ him as a spy. Contact with this slave had very mil'ch 
pleased the English officers. This was due to his low, prices, as well 
as to his engaging manner, and this doubtless facilitated his efforts 
to closely observe the plan of the fortification. At first he made only 
daytime trips, but acting upon the instruction of the officer who had 
employed him and that of his master, Cairt. Lamb, he told the Brit- 
ish that as he hereafter had to hoe corn he could no longer come in 
tlie day, but would serve them at night if given a pass. Unwilling 
to lose his fresh vegetables, the English gave him their countersign, 
"The fort is our own," that he might pass the guards at any lime he 
v.'as able to come. 

On the night of July loth, having killed all the dogs in the neigh- 
borhood that their bark might not arouse suspicion, the Amer- 
icans made an Attack upon the fort. First came Ponipey, carrying 
his fruit and vegetables, accompanied by two soldieis disguised as 
farmers. He engaged the first sentinel he met in conversation, giv- 
ing him some fruit meanwhile. The disguised soldiers seized and 
gagged this man, and soon after a second sentinel was similarly 
treated. By this means the causeway was left unprotected, and 
Anthony Wayne and the rest of his men, hidden not far away, were 
enabled to make an entry into the fortification. So silently did they 
ascend the cliff that their presence was not known until the\ were 
within pistol range of the guards on the highland. Here a skirmish 
occurred which awoke the entire fort. The Americans forced their 
way in amidst a terrible fire. At the close of the battle the garrison 
of six hundred men was sui»rendered by Capt. de Fleurry. For 
his deed Pompey received a horse from his master and was never 
required by him to work again. In the ranks of the Americans at 
this time were several Negroes, one of whom was "Father Stanup." 
He was wounded and left on the field for dead. He, however, re- 
covered, and died many years later, near Urbana, in Champagne 
County, Ohio. Peter Salem, of Bunker Hill, was also in this battle. 
On March 20, 1781, the legislature of New York passed an act 
worded as follows : 

"Sec. 6. And be it further enacted by the authority of 
the aforesaid that any person who shall deliver one or mo'-e 
of his or her ablebodied slaves to any one in office, as afore- 
said, to serve in either of the said regiments, or independent 
corps, and produce a certificate thereof signed by any per- 
sons authorized to muster and receive the men to be raised 
by this act and produce such certificate to the Surveyor Gen- 
eral, shall for every male slave so mustered and entered, as 
aforesaid, be entitled to the location and grant of one right 



4° MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

in manner as by and in this act is directed shall be and here- 
by is disclmrged from any further maintenance of such 
slave, any law to the contrary notwithstanding. And such 
slave so entered as aforesaid, who shall serve for the term 
of three years, or until regularly discharged, shall imme- 
diately after such service or discharge be and is hereby 
declared to be a free man of this state." 

This statute provided for the raising of two Separate regiments of 
men of color from the empire state. How many entered the army 
through its enactment it seems impossible to tell, yet at the same, 
time it is obvious that black men in goodly numbers served their 
country here as elsewhere. 

The name of "Negro Tom" appears as early as March 18, 1776, 
on the rolls of the Orangetown, New York, regiment, as a drum- 
mer in the company of Capt. Egbert. Phillip Field is m.entioned 
as having enlisted April 15, 1777, in the vSecond New York Regi- 
ment. This man was a slave, of Duchess County, New York. He 
died in Valley Forge. August, 1778. These facts prove indisputably 
that black men of New York entered the American army at the 
very earliest period of the strife. This is not at all surprising when 
it is recalled that on July 21, 1776, the English were repo-ted to 
have collected in their ranks on Staten Island alone, eight hundred 
slaves, the property of American masters. These men had gone over 
to assist the enemy with the promise of receiving their freedoin. To 
prevent any more of this, as well as to strengthen their own forces, 
the Americans early saw the necessity of enlisting the blacks in this 
state. 

Many Negroes fell in the Battle of Long Island. This engage- 
ment occurred in August, 1776. It was an effort made by the Brit- 
ish to take the fortifications situated on Brooklyn Heights with the 
hope of finally securing New York City. To this end they landed 
a force of twenty thousand men, English and Hessians, the latter 
under Gen. De Heister, at Sandy Hook and at Gravesend Cove, the 
last-named place near the present site of Fort Hamilton. The foe 
advanced through four passes upon the American position, which 
was held by a force of some ten thousand men. A fierce fight oc- 
curred on the road to Flatbush, in which a part of the colonial army 
was badly crippled. Later all of the American forces were forced 
to join in a midnight flight across the river to New York. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 41 

Biirgoy lie's Surrender. \ 

Gen. Burgoyne planned to seize Albany in the early fall of 17?7, 
boasting that he would eat his Christmas dinner in that city. It 
was his hope to make a junction with the forces of Great Britain, 
stationed in various parts of this section, by forcing his way, to the 
Hudson River from Upper New York. Toward the accomplish- 
ment of this effort he was successful in capturing Crown Point and 
the artillery at Ticonderoga that Gen. Sinclair was t'"ying to move. 
He was able also to force the Americans to leave the latter place. 
Reaching Fort Edward, a point on the Hudson, he sent a force of 
Hessians into Vermont to capture some military stores and horses 
there belonging to the colonials. The result of this expedition was 
the Battle of Bennington, fought by the Americans under Stark, 
which resulted in a complete defeat for the enemy. Seven hundred 
of the men were taken prisoners. When Stark asked for a rope to 
secure some of these, a Mrs. Robinson, of whom he made the re- 
quest, said she would give the last one belonging to her bedstead if 
her Negro slave might harness up her old mare and lead the British, 
Hessian and Tory captives away. The general acquiesced, and a 
black man led a part of the left wing of Burgoyne's army over the 
state line down the road leading to Boston. Burgoyne led his re- 
maining forces to Stillwater, New York, a Hudson River village, 
near which place, on Bemis Heights, on September 19th, he was 
hotly attacked by white and by black Americans. At the close of 
this battle he was forced to surrender. A Negro who aided in 
bringing about this result was Ebenezer Hills, born a slave in Con- 
necticut. This man was also at the Battle of Saratoga, and died at 
an advanced age in Vienna, New York. 

^ . New Jersey. 

It is probable that black men of New Jersey went into the con- 
flict at the very first call to arms, for when facilitated by the partmg 
of the ice at McConkey's Ferry Washington crossed the Delaware 
on that memorable Christmas night, the "mulatto" Oliver Cromwell 
was there, with others of his race, to take part in the Battle of Tren- 
ton on the next day. This battle resulted in a victory 'for the con- 
tinentals, who took about a thousand prisoners from the foe. When 
describing it Cromwell often said,' "We knocked the British about 
quite lively." This man was a farmer. He enlisted in the company 
of Capt. Loney, Second Regiment, New Jersey, under Col. Israel 
Shreeve. He remained in the army until the war was over, serving 



^i 



42 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

in all about six years and nine months, and receiving a discharge in 
Washington's own handwriting. He was also in the Battles of 
Rrandywine and of Monmouth. At the end of the war he became 
a pensioner, receiving ninety-six dollars a year. In many old paint- 
ings of the famous passage across the Delaware may be seen the 
likeness of a Negro near the commander-in-chief in the fore of the 
boat. The original was Prince Whipple, an African chief, who had 
Been sent to America by his father to be educated, but who had been 
sold instead as a slave in Baltimore to Gen. Whipple by the very 
captain on whose ship he sailed from his native home. He entered 
the war with his master, but was emancipated before its close. 

The Battles of Brandytvine and Monmouth. 

All of the cities on the Atlantic coast were in turn viewed with 
covetous eyes by the British. They desired very greatly to capture 
Philadelphia and fought several battles to this end. Among them 
was one known as the Battle of Brandywine, which occurred Sep- 
tember 11, 1777, on the steep banks of a stream bearmg that name. 
The black men, Brazaillai Lew and Sanford Talbert, were in this 
engagement. 

The Battle of Monmouth. 

The Battle of Monmouth was another contest fought to prevent 
the British from seizing the City of Brotherly Love. This engage- 
ment took place when the English, under Gen. Clinton, on their way 
t(. New York, met the Americans near the village of Monmouth, 
on Wrennock Creek, June 28, 1778. It appeared in the early part 
of the fight that the enemy would be victorious, for much apathy 
was manifested on the part of the Americans, due, it is said, to the 
treachery of one of Washington's aides. At any rate, whether this 
be true or not, the commander-in-chief, after seeing many of his 
colonels passing in swift retreat from the onslaught of their oppo- 
nents, was forced to conduct the rally in person, and affairs then 
took a turn in favor of the colonists. In this engagement, and to 
v/hom much of its success was due, were over seven hundred black 
men, standing side by side with the other Americans. They belonged 
not only to New Jersey but to several other sections of the country, 
as a glance at the army return, made public a few months later, will 
show : 



Present. 


Sick-Absent. 


On Command. 


Total. 


43 


10 


6 


58 


36 


3 


1 


40 


64 


' 26 


8 


98 


20 ' 


3 


1 


24 


DC 


15 


2 


60 


2' 


[- — 




■ 2 


33 


1 


1 


35 


33 


2 


4 


39 


117 


-12 


19 


148 


56 


2 


4 


62 


2t3 




1 


27 


64 


13 


12 


89 


34 


4 


8 


46 


16 


7 


4 


27 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 43 

RETURN OF NEGROES IN THE ARMY, 24th AUG., 1778. 

Brigades. 

North Carolina 

Woodford 

Muhlenburg 

Smallwood 

2nd Maryland 

Wayne 

2nd Maryland 

Clinton 

Parsons 

Huntington 

Nixon 

Patterson 

Late Learned 

Poor 

586 98 71 755 

Alexander Scannnel, Adjutant General. 

One of these men was Samuel Charlton, a native of New Jersey. 
He entered the service as a substitute for his master. At first he 
'was only a teamster, but in this engagement he gave artillery serv- 
ice, and stood very near the famous Molly Pitcher when she took 
her wounded husband's place at the cannon. Charlton's conduct 
brought him personal notice from \\^ashington. He was in several 
other battles in this state. 

New Jersey seems to have offered no resistance to the entrance 
of her men of color into the army. The master's consent was nec- 
essary before a slave could enlist, it is true, but only that the for- 
mer might not be deprived of the services of his bondman without 
the equivalent in money. In 1784 the legislature of this state set 
free all slaves who had taken part in the American Revolution, lib- 
erating also those doing war service belonging to Tory masters. 
Among these were Peter Williams, who w^as taken by his master 
into the British lines. He escaped and served a while with the state 
troops. Later he entered the ranks of the continental army, where 

he remained until the war was over. Cato , of the same town, 

became free under like conditions. He was liberated by a special 
act passed in 1789, which declared he had rendered "essential serv- 
ice, both to the state and to the United States in time of war." Be- 



44 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

side these there was Prime , of Princeton. He was emanci- 
pated because "He was entitled to special notice from the legisla- 
ture" for reasons similar to those which gave Cato his liberty. 

PSNNSVLVANIA. 

As early ks 1777, and perhaps sooner, Negroes of Pennsylvania 
had enlisted in the struggle which freed the colonists from the rule 
of Great Britain. In that year there were thirty-three blacks in the 
2nd Regiment of Pennsylvania under Washington just after the 
famous Battle of Monmouth, and state records prove conclusively 
that all during the early period of the war bond servants, as slaves 
were here called, were enlisted even without their masters' consent, 
although this was against the law. Freemen, without a doubt, were 
taken into the army to aid the colonials during the entire period of 
the war. 

Maryland. - '' 

Maryland was not unlike her sister colonies in calling upon 
Negroes to aid her in the struggle for independence. A field return 
of Negroes in the main army in August, 1778, shows that at that 
time there were sixty blacks in the Second Maryland Brigade. By 
an act passed in 1780 all males previously exempted (Negroes) werii 
made liable to draft, and all able-bodied slaves were recruited, with 
their own or their masters' consent. The following year, when only 
a part of a certain quota called for months before had been raised, 
two extra battalions were ordered added to the army by the enlist- 
ment of free blacks (of whom there were not a few m this state), as 
well as others, over the age of sixteen, if idle or without means of 
support or family. This same year (1781) the legislature voted on 
the motion of John Calwalader in order to raise two regiments of 
a grant of unappropriated land be given every slave holder for each 
able-bodied slave that he or she enlisted. This act relieved the mas- 
ter from further responsibility for the black who was to be free 
at the end of three years' service unless regularly discharged before 
then. These men were to be incorporated with the rest of the army 
and some of them were doubtless at the Battle of Camden. It was 
in this engagement, occurring in South Carolina in 1780, that the 
JMaryland and Delaware troops displayed much valor, althovigh the 
enemy won the day. Baron De Kalb was mortally wounded at this 
time. Among these men of Maryland was Thomas Holland, a 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 45 . 

Negro, of Dorset County. He and his uncle served together jn the 
war and they were attached to the regiment of Col. Charles Gold- 
berg. 

Virginia. 

Almost at the very beginning of the Revolutionary War Lord 
Dunmore, the Royalist Governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation 
in which he invited slaves to enter the ministerial army. Very many 
responded to his call. These people were inspired to leave their mas- 
ters by the hope of receiving their freedom, which was promised 
them by the English. The enlistment of Negroes in the ranks of the 
Tories caused great concern in the minds of the Federalists who, in 
their turn, made an apeal to them to stand by their true friends. 
This appeal was printed in a newspaper of Williamsburg, Virginia, 
on November 23, in the year 177G, and read : 

"CAUTION TO NEGROES." 

"The second class of people for whose sake a few remarks upon 
this proclamation seem necessary is the Negroes. They have been 
flattered with their freedom if they be able to bear arms and will 
speedily join Lord Dunmore's troops. To none of them is freedom 
promised but to such as are able to do Lord Dunmore's service. The 
aged, the infirm, the women, the children are still to remain the 
property of their masters, who will be provoked to severity should 
part of their slaves desert them. Lord Dunmore's declaration, then, 
is a cruel declaration to the Negroes. He does not pretend to make 
it out of any tenderness to them, but solely on his own account, and 
should it meet with success it leaves by far the greater number at 
the mercy of an enraged and injured people. But should there be 
any among the Negroes weak enough to believe that Lord Dunmore 
intends to do them a kindness and wicked enough to provoke the 
fury of the Americans against their defenseless fathers and moth- 
ers, their wives, their w^omen, and their children, let them only con- 
sider the difiiculty of effecting their escape and what they must ex- 
pect to suffer if they fall into the hands of the Americans. Let 
them consider further what must be their fate if the English prove 
conquerors, li we can judge the future from the past it will not 
be much mended. Long have the Americans, moved by compassion 
and actuated by sound policy, endeavored to stop the progress of 
slavery. Our assemblies have repeatedly passed acts laying heavy 
duties upon importing Negroes, by which they meant altoge'ilTer to 
prevent the horrid traffic. But their humane intentions have been 



46 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

as often frustrated by the cruelty and covetousness of a set ot:' Eng- 
lish nierchants who prevailed upon the king to repeal our kind and 
merciful act, little, indeed, to his credit or humanity. Can it be 
supposed that the Negroes will be better used by the English, who 
have always encouraged and upheld this slavery, than by their pres- 
ent masters who pity their condition, who wish in general to make 
il as easy and comfortable as possible, and who would, were it in 
their power, or were they permitted, not only prevent any more 
Negroes from losing their freedom but restore i-t to such as have 
lost it already? No, the ends of Lord Dunmore and his party being 
answered, they would either give up the offending Negroes to the 
rigor of the law they have broken or sell them in the West Indies, 
where every year they sell many thousands of their miserable 
brethren, to perish either by the inclemency of the weather or 
through the cruelty of barbarous masters. Be not then, ye Negroes, 
tempted by this proclamation to ruin yourselves. I have given you 
a faithful view of what you are to expect, and declare before God 
in doing it I have considered your welfare as well as that of the 
country. Whether you will profit by my advice I cannot tell, but 
this I know, that whether we suff"er or not, if you desert us you cer- 
tainly will." 

For a time many slaves entered the British ranks, in spite of the 
warning at the end of this appeal. A number of them "acquitted 
themselves like soldiers" in the Battle of Kemp's Landing, in the 
fall of 1776. Indeed, so great was their desertion of their masters 
that the latter saw fit to offer pardon to all who w^ould return to 
them within ten days, in the following terms : 

"Whereas, I^ord Dunmore. by his proclamation dated on board 
the ship William, off Norfolk, the seventh day of November, 1776, / 
liath offered freedom to such able-bodied slaves as are wiliing to 
join him and take up arms against the good people of this colony, 
giving thereby encouragement to a general insurrection which may 
induce the necessity of inflicting the severest punishment upon these 
unhappy people, already deluded by his base and insiduous arts, 
and whereas, by an act of the General Assembly, now in force in 
this colony, it is enacted that all Negro or other slaves conspiring 
to rebel or make insurrection shall suffer death and be excluded oi, 
all benefit of clergy, we think it proper to declare that all slaves whoi 
have been or shall be seduced by his lordship's proclamation or other 
arts to desert their masters' service and take up arms against the in- 
habitants of this colony, shall be lialole to such punishment as shall 
hereafter be directed bv general convention. And to that; end, that, 
all such who have taken this unlawful and wicked step may return 
in safety to their duty and escape the punishment due their crimes, 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 47 

we hereby promise pardon to them, they surrenderhig themselves to 
Col. William Woodward or any other commander of our- troops, and 
not appearing in arms after the publication hereof. And we do fur- 
ther recommend it to all humane and benevolent persons in this 
colony to explain and make known this, our offer of mercy to those 
unfortunate people." 

Shortly after this the exodus into the ranks of the English began 
to decrease, for it developed that many of the blacks, instead of being 
used as soldiers, were being sold into slavery in the West Indies by 
the British. 

Many free Negroes entered the ranks of the Colonial Army be- 
fore 1777. Slaves also went in as substitutes, and so many ran away 
and pretended to be free, that they might enlist, that in this year an 
act was passed by which all Negroes were compelled to show cer- 
tificates of freedom before being taken into the army. A little later 
those who were above the age of thirty-one, even though bondmen, 
were regularly enlisted. A number of free mulattoes served as 
drummers and fifers, and as time went on many slaves were offered 
by their masters as substitutes. 

For the reward of such men as were known to be slaves at the 
time of their mustering into the service, an act was passed in 1783 
giving them their freedom, and manumission was extended even to 
those who had received only verbal promises of freedom from thei*- 
owners if serving as substitutes for the same. The act providing 
for this emergency reads in this manner : 

"1st. Whereas, it. has been represented to the General Assembly 
that during the course of the war many persons in this state have 
caused their slaves to enlist in certain regiments or corps raised 
witbin the same, having tendered such slaves to the officers ap- 
pointed to recruit forces within the state as substitutes for free per- 
sons whose lot or duty it was to serve in such regiments or corps, 
at the same time representing to such recruiting officers that the 
slaves so enlisted by their direction and concurrence were free men ; 
and it appearing further to this assemply that on the expiration of 
the term of enlistment of such slaves that the former owners have 
attempted again to force them to return to a state of servitude, con - 
t^ary to the principles of justice and to their own solemn ptomise: 
"2nd. And. whereas", it appears just and reasonable that all 
persons so enlisted, as aforesaid, who have faithfully served agree- 
able to the terms of enlistment and have thereby, of course, con- 
tributed toward the establishment of American liberty and independ- 
ence, should enjoy the blessings of freedom as a reward fo-- their 
toils and labors; 



/ 



48 '• MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

"Be it therefore enacted, that-each and every slave who by the ap- 
pointment and direction of his master hath enHsted in any rcgimqnt 
or corps raised within this state, either on continental or state estab- 
lishment, and hath been received as a substitute for any free person, 
whose duty or lot it was to serve in such regiments or corps, and 
who have served faithfully during the term of such enlistment or 
hath been discharged from such service by some officer duly ruthor- 
ized to grant such discharge, shall from and after the passing of this 
act be fully and completely emancipated, shall be held and deemed 
flee in as full and as ample a manner as if each and every one of 
them had been named in this act. And the Attorney General for 
the Comnpnwealth is hereby authorized to commence an action in 
forma pauperis in behalf of any person above described, who shall 
after the passing of this act be detained in servitude by any ]3erson 
whatsoever, and if, upon such prosecution, it shall appear that the 
pauper is entitled to his freedom, in consequence of this act. a jury 
shall be empanelled to assess the damages for his detention.'' 

After the clQse of the war slaves rendering public service were 
often set free by special laws for such cases, as the following pas- 
sage indicates : 

"3. And whereas it has been represented to this General Assem- 
bly that Aberdeen, a Negro slave, hath labored a number t f years 
in the lead mines, and for his meritorious services is entitled to free- 
dom, be it therefore enacted that the said slave Abeideen shall be, 
and is hereby emancipated and declared free, in all full and ample a 
manner as if he had been born free." 

For Negroes who had served as spies in the camps of Great Brit- 
ain the following statute was passed in October, 178G : 

"1st. Whereas, it is represented that James, a Negro slave, the 
propertv of William Armstead, gentleman of the County of ^New 
Kent, did, with the permission of his master, in the year one thou- 
sand seven hundred eighty-one, enter into the service of the Marquis 
de Lafayette, and at the peril of his' life found means to frequent 
the British camp, and thereby faithfully executed important com- 
missions entrusted to him by the marquis, and the said James hath 
made application to this assembly to set him free and to make his 
said master adequate compensation for his value, which is judged 
reasonable and right to do; 

"2nd. Be it therefore enacted that the said James shall from and 
after the passing of this act enjoy as full freedom as if he had been 
born iree, any law to the contrary notwithstanding. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 49 

"3rd. And be it further enacted that the executive shall, as soon 
as may be, appoint a proper person, and the said William Armstead 
another, who shall ascertain and fix the value of the said Tames, 
and to certify such valuation to the auditor of accounts, who shall 
issue his warrant to the treasurer for the same, to be paid out of 
the general fund." 

For the benefit of another black man it was decreed in Novem- 
ber, 1792, that: 

"1st. In consideration of many very essential services rendered 
to this Commonwealth during the late war by a certain Negro named 
Saul, now the property of George Kelley, of Norfolk ; 
^ "Section 3. Be it enacted by the General Assembly that the execu- 
tive shall forthwith, or as soon as may be, appoint one fit person 
and George Kelley, owner of the said slave, one other person, who 
shall jointly ascertain and fix the value of said slave and certify 
such valuation to the auditor of public accounts, who shall there- 
upon issue to said George Kelley a warrant for the amount, payable 
cut of the contingent fund. 

"Section 3. And be it further enacted that from and after the 
said valuation the said Saul shall have and enjoy full liberty and 
freedom in like manner as if he had been born free. 

"Section 4. This act shall commence and be in force from and 
after the passing thereof." 

In October, 1789, manumission was extended to two Negro sailors 
of the revolution in this manner : 

"Whereas, Jack Knight and William Boush. two Negro slaves be- 
longing to the Commonwealth, have faithfully served on board the 
armed vessels thereof for some years past, and said armed vessels 
are no longer continued on public establishment; 

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the said Jack Knight 
and W'illiam Boush are hereby manumitted, set free and discharged 
from servitude, to all intents and purposes, saving, however, that all 
persons and bodies politic and corporate, other than those claiming 
under the Commonwealth all legal or equitable rights, which they 
might have asserted to the said slaves, if this act had never been 
made." 

William Lee, a Virginian, belonging to George Washington, was 
granted his freedom by his master and offered an annuity, or a life 
support, as he preferred, for faithful services in the war. Benja- 
min Morris, the driver of a baggage wagon, so well acquitted him- 
self that he was set free. Richard Venie served in the army of the^ 
Americans, enlisting with other slaves under his master's command 
when given a promise of freedom. He fought in the Battles of 



5° MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

Camden. King's Mounta,in and Eutaw Springs, all occurring in the 
southern campaign, near the close of the war. He was in the serv- 
ice at the time of Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown. Not realizing 
his expectation of being liberated at the close of the struggle, he ran 
away, but finally received his freedom through an act of the legisla- 
ture. There was also a Caesar , who, very early in the con- 
flict, entered the service of his country and piloted some of the 
armed vessels of his native state. According to the following stat- 
ute he was set free at public expense : 

"Whereas, it is represented that Mary Tarrant, in the County 
of Elizabeth City, hath a Negro named Caesar, who entered very 
early into the service of his country and continued to pilot the armed 
vessels of his country during the war, in consideration of which 
meritorious service it is judged expedient to purchase the freedom 
of said Caesar ; . 

"Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly that the execu- 
tive shall appoint a proper person to contract with the said Mary 
Tarrant for said Caesar, and if they should agree, the person so 
appointed by the executive shall deliver to said Mary Tarrant a cer- 
tificate expressing such purchase and the sum, and upon producing 
such certificate to the auditor of accounts he shall issue a warrant 
for the same to the treasurer, to be paid by him out of the lighthouse 
fund. 

"And be it further enacted that from and after the execution of 
the aforesaid certificate the said Caesar shall be manumitted and 
set free to all intents and purposes." 

North Carolina. 

North Carolina was not unlike the other states at this period in 
that there were quite a number of free colored people on her soil at 
the outbreak of the revolution. Persons of this type were required 
to bear arms and without doubt many of them fought m the struggle 
for American independence, both in the state and in the continental 
forces. In the general division of the army under Washington in 
1778, there were fifty-eight black men in the North Carolina bri- 
gade. Between 1777 and 1783 many acts are to be found on the 
statute books which forbade the enlisting of slaves as substitutes in 
the army, and yet they entered in this capacity as well as under 
other conditions. A law of 1778 declares that they were not to be 
deprived of their freedom, promised as a reward for enlisting, if 
entering the army either in the service of the United States or in 
that of North Carolina. Up to 1780 they were evidently received as 
substitutes, for a law passed in that year orders military men no 
longer to recruit them as such. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 51 

During the latter part of the war. when the southern campaign 
was on and food had grown scarce in this state, due partly to the 
fact that many of the masters of food-bearing vessels were un- 
acquainted with the rivers running through this section, Negroes 
served as pilots. Such men were first examined, and if their mas- 
ters gave bond of good security for them they received a certificate 
to act as the pilots of vessels running into such ports as Bathtown, 
"Roanoke. Beaufort and Brunswick. 

That they did not always receive their liberty for military service 
without resort to legal aid is made manifest by the following act, 
passed in 1787: 

"Whereas. Ned Griffin, late the property of William Kitchin, of 
Edgecomb County. North Carolina, was promised the full enjoy- 
ment of his liberty on condition that he, the said Ned Griffin, should 
faithfully serve as a soldier in the continental lines of this state for 
and during the term of twelve months, and whereas, the said Grif- 
fin did faithfully on his part perform the condition and, whereas, 
it is just and reasonable the said Griffin should receive the reward 
promised for his service as performed ; 

"Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of the State 
of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the 
same, that the said Ned Griffin, late the property of William 
Kitchin. shall forever hereafter be, in every respect, declared to be 
a free man. and he shall be and is hereafter enfranchised and for- 
ever delivered of the yoke of slavery. Any law, usage or custom 
to the contrary thereof in any ways notwithstanding." 

The Edenton Whig, published in IS-tO, gives an account of the 
death of a colored soldier of the Revolution who died in that vear at 
one hundred and one years of age. This man, whose name was 
Jonathan Overton, served under Washington at Yorktown. This 
"last scene of t'lie struggle for American freedom was located on the 
York River, in the State of \'irginia. The English, having sur- 
rounded themselves with fortifications, were in possession of the 
place. Very early in October the Americans made a furious attack 
upon them, which was of sufficient degree to force Cornwallis, who 
was in charge, to send to Clinton, then in New York, for aid. 
Some time elapsed before this could be secured. During this time 
the English commander, although advised to do otherwise, remamed 
behind his Virginia fortification, believing that he could hold out 
until help came. In this he was verv much mistaken, for the Amer- 
icans kept up the seige until October 19th, 1781. By this time, hard 
pressed and uncertain as to the time of arrival of the forces from 
the north. Cornwallis held out a flag of truce to Washington, and a 



52 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

little later surrendered his army of 'seven thousand men as prisoners, 
of war to the Amerian leader. It is said that one black patriot who 
helped to bring about this victory and who was an eye witness to 
the scene, remarked jocosely that "Cornwallis would be better called 
Cobwallis in the future, as the Americans had about knocked off all 
the kernels (colonels)." 

South Carolina. 

For the defense and security of the state, South Carolina, in 1775, 
provided, by a resolution of her General Assembly, for the use of 
slaves in the army for one year. They might be employed by col- 
onels of regiments as pioneers, laborers and in any other capacity 
required. Seven shillings and sixpence were allowed to be paid for 
the services of each slave while actually employed. A little later a 
resolution was adopted by the same l)ody which forbade the use of 
the slave in the war, in any capacity, under any condition. This 
brought about the emancipation of many Negroes that they might 
enter' the service, where their conduct was such that they often re- 
ceived great praise. 

71ie Defense of Port Maul trie. 

Early in 1770 it was decided to fortify Charleston against a prob- 
able attack from the enemy's guns. Negroes were drilled in ex- 
tinguishing fires, placing ladders and in meeting other emergencies 
that would arise were the city to be shelled. They (Negroes) took 
lead from the roofs of houses and churches and melted it into 'bul- 
lets that the supply of amnnniition might be increased. x\s the citj' 
is near the sea it was necessary to place defenses about the harbor 
by which it is approached. It was therefore decided to erect breast- 
works on SuUivan'.s Island, in Charleston Harbor. This piece of 
land is a low, sandy bar on the right of the inlet. At the time of the 
war it was covered with marshes, thickets and many trees. This 
point was selected because it had a deeper channel than that made by 
the other islands in the neighborhood, and because the Britisli ship:: 
were sure to pass that way if they made an effort to storm the city. 
A fort put up liere was laid out in four bastiles. A fascine battery 
was also erected. Most of this work was done by Negroes, a large 
force being called in from the outlying plantations. Under tJie^ di- 
rection oj Col. Moultrie "these men ably assisted the whites." They 
dovetailecl the spongy palmetto, whose bullet resisting power is so 
well known, into a number of pens, connected with each other. 



>4 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 



53 



These were filled with sand, making a parapet sixteen feet thick and 
h.igh enough to shiekl the defenders and their guns. By April 36 
one hundred guns were in opei-ation. 

On May 31st the expected British fleet, after having made sev- 
eral unsuccessful attacks off the coast of Virginia and North Caro- 
lina, appeared twenty miles off the mouth of the Ashley River. This 
was followed by some weeks of extra preparation on tlie part of the 
Charlestonians. The defenses were attacked on the fifteen of June, 
at which time a division of Clinton's force opened fire upon the fort, 
where the Negroes were still at work even when the action began. 
In the city the blacks, who had been previously trained, took charge 
of the fire apparatus. So furious was the assault of the Americans 
that at no time were Clinton's men able to land upon Sullivan or 
Fort Moultrie, as the point was afterward called. An advance 
guard of some eight hundred men of both races defended the island 
at its lower extremity, while there was a force of four hundred and 
thirty-five in the fort. It was Clinton's plan to proceed to Charles- 
ton from this point, but neither the first nor the second division of 
the British fleet ever effected a landing. Badly crippled, they sailed 
away up the coast toward New York, where a large force of George 
III was concentrating. This victory brought security to South Car- 
olina and to Georgia for the next three years. "Much of it, if not 
most of it, was due the efiforts of Negroes." 

An effort to Raise a Large Body of Negro Troops. 

In March, 1779, Henry Laurens, of this state, wrote the following 
letter to Washington on the subject of using black men in the army: 

"Our affairs in the Southern Department are more favorable than 
we had considered them a few days ago. Nevertheless, the country 
is greatly distressed and will be more so unless reinforcements are 
sent to its relief. Had we arms for three thousand j^lack men such 
as I could select from Carolina, I should have no doubt of success 
in driving the British out of Georgia and subduing East Florida be- 
fore the end of July." 

This was a request for the raising of a large body of Negio sol- 
diers. Secretary of Treasury Hamilton approved of this plan, 
saying that he believed "that the Negroes would make excellent sol- 
diers with proper management." Congress, to whom the matter was 
referred, considered it of great importance, and appointed a special 
committee to deliberate upon it. This body recommended that the 
states of South Carolina and Georgia, if they shall think the same 
expedient take measures immediately for the raismg of three thou- 



54 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

sand able-bodied Negroes.' These men, Congress further advised, 
should be formed in a separate corps and battalion according to 
the arrangements adopted for the main army which 'should 
be commanded by white commissioned and noncommissioned 
officers. It was also resolved that Congress should pay to the own- 
ers of such Negroes as should be enlisted full compensation for the 
same, not exceeding one thousand dollars, for each able-bodied 
Negro man of standard size and less than thirty-five years of age. 
The Negroes were not to receive pay or bounty, but were to be 
clothed and supported by the United States. Those who served^ 
well to the end of the war were to return their arms, receive fifty 
dollars and their emancipation. Col. George Laurens, a son of the 
man whose request had called forth these resolutions, went home to 
South Carolina as soon as they were made known, hoping that he 
might arouse sentiment sufficient to bring about their materialization. 
Meanwhile Cornwallis,' Clinton and Provost were encouraging the 
slaves to enter the ministerial ranks with the promise of freedom, 
and they were responding in no small number.* In 1780 Gen. Lin- 



*Jefferson said the Americans lost twenty thousand of their slaves 
to the British. 

coin also asked that the army of the Continentals be augmented by 
black men, saying in a letter, "I think the measure of raising a black 
corps a necessary one. I have great reason to ])elieve if i)ermission is 
given for it that many men would soon be obtained. I have repeat- 
edly urged this matter not only because Congress has recommended 
it and because it becomes my duty to attempt to have it executed, 
but because my own mind suggests the utility and importance of the 
measure as the safety of the town (Charleston) makes it necessary." 
This letter was w^ritten after the reduction of Charleston by the Brit- 
ish under Clinton. 

It was in January, 1782, that Gen. Greene wrote the following 
communication to Washington anent the same matter: "I have rec- 
ommended to this state to raise some black regiments. To fill up 
the regiments with whites is impracticable, and to get reinforcements 
from the northward precarious and at least difficult from the prej- 
udices respecting the climate. Some are for it, but the greater part 
of the people are opposed to it." To the governor of South Caro- 
lina he wrote in part: "The national strength of the country, in 
point of numbers, it seems to me to consist much more in the blacks 
than in the whites. Could they be incorporated and employed for 
its defense it would double your security. That they would make 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 55 

good soldiers I have not the least doubt, and I am nersuaded 
that the state has it not in its power to give sufficient rdnfocfem 
without mcorporatmg them either to seture the country fe 
enemy mean to act vigorously upon an offensive plan, or to furn sh 
a force sufficient to dispossess them at Charleston should it be de- 
fensive The number of whites in this state is too small, and the 

^binM .r"' '^i ^'^J '°''^' ^° '^''^ ^ ^^'"^e '" ^^y other way. 

.Should the measure be adopted it may prove a good means of pre- 
venting the enemy from further attempts upon this country when 
tney find they not only have the whites but the blacks also 'to con- 
tend with And I believe it is generally agreed that if the national 
strength of this country could have been emploved in its defense 
the enemy would have found it a little less impracticable to have 
gotten a footing here, much more to have overrun the country by 
which the inhabitants have suffered infinitelv greater loss than 
would have been sufficient to have given you perfect securitv and I 
am persuaded the incorporation of a part of- the Negroes ' would 
rather tend to secure the fidelity of others than excite discontent 
mutiny and desertion among them. The force I would ask for this 
purpose, in addition to what we have and what may probably join 
us from the northward, or from the militia of this state, would be 
four regiments, two upon the Continental and two upon the state 
establishment, a corp of pioneers and a corp of artificers, each to 
consist of about eighty men. The last two may be either on a tem- 
porary or a permanent establishment, as may be the most agreeable 
to this state. The others should have their freedom and be clothed 
and treated in all respects as other soldiers, without which they 
would be unfit for the duties expected of them."' 

Despite these requests on the part of military officers for the en- 
listment of a large force of blacks, and despite the endorsement and 
approval of the same by such men as Washington. Hamilton and 
Adams, and although Laurens worked for it most faithfully until 
the year 1T83, the time of his death, nothing was accomplished along 
that line. In the legislature of South Carolina it was out-voted and 
the chief promoter had passed away before it was settled in the 
Georgia assembly, where he had hoped for a more satisfactory ter- 
mination of the matter. Thus ended the eft'ort to organize separate 
bodies of Negro troops in the South. They were, however, attached 
to the southern army until the end of the struggle, and not a few 
were spies and drummers. Numbers of them were engaged in 
building breastworks, driving teams, and piloting the army through 
dense woods and swamps and across rivers. In 1783 an act was 
passed in this state enfranchasing the wife and child of a Negro who, 



56 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

wliile"^ in the employ of Gen. Rutledge, had served as a spy. The 
emancipation of his wife and child were deemed a just and reason- 
able reward "because he had executed the commissions with which 
he was entrusted with diligence and fidelity, and had at the risk of 
his own life frequently secured important information from the 
enemy's line." 

Sati Domingo Negroes in the Revolution. 

In December, 1778, Savannah was captured by a British force of 
thr^e thousand men under Col. Campbell. Following this Gen. Pro- 
vost set up a form of government in the State of Georgia with 
Savannah as its capital. This place was at that time an unpaved 
village, protected on the north by the Savannah River and exposed 
on the eastern and the southern sides, wl^re, after destroying all the 
bridges entering the town, the British had constructed an unbroken 
line of fortifications upon the broad field that extended from the 
river to the swamp. 

It was in October of the year 1779 that the Continentals, aided 
by their allies, the French, made an efifort to take Savannah out of 
the hands of the foe. Dividing their forces they made several lines 
of approach, hoping to weaken the strength of the enemy b> a di- 
vision of the centers of attention. The rear of the fortifications was 
attacked by troops under . Gen. Dillon. These men became en- 
tangled in a morass and were thereby exposed to ihe fire of the 
British batteries from two strong redoubts. Many of the forces 
under Gen. Huger became trapped in low-lying rice fields in the 
neighborhood, while two hundred cavalrymen under Count Pulaski 
made an unsuccessful' attempt to enter the lines of the enemy be- 
tween their fortifications. In the confusion which ensued the brave 
Pole himself received a mortal injury. So steady a fire was kept 
up from the well-stocked garrison of the English that the main body 
of the Americans under D'Estaing and Lincoln were forced into re- 
treat. Into the breach thus made the black men, slave and free, of 
San Domingo, placed themselves, commanded by Vicount de Front- 
ages. They numbered about eight hundred blacks and mulattoes, 
who had responded to the call of D'Estaing to enter the French di- 
vision of the American army. Rushing into the conflict "they saved 
the Franco-American army from total disaster by heroically cov- 
ering its retreat," which had been very nearly cut ofif by the marines 
and grenadiers under Lieut. Col. Maitland. 

These forces did not remain in America very long after this en- 
gagement, but soon a part of the French fleet returned to France 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 57 

and the rest to the West Indies. 

In this brave black battahon were men, some of wliom afterward 
became heroes in the fight for the hberty of their own native soil 
Among these were Jean Baptiste Chavanne, who became one of the 
principals in a slave uprising in Haiti in 1T90. For this he was very 
cruelly put to death on the road to the La Grande Rivere, opposite 
the estate of Poisson, in the presence of the northern provincial 
assemply of Haiti, which convened for the special purpose on Feb- 
ruary 25, 1791. Another of these soldiers was Andre Riguard, who 
later refused a bribe of three million francs. This sum was offered 
him by the English, who were operating in the isle of San Domingo 
in 1791, and whose military bases had been more than once suc- 
cessfully stormed by the forces under Riguard. This made him, of 
course, a very desirable ally, for all through the stormy period that 
•produced the Negro republic of Haiti he was extremely active. In 

1799 he was elected a deputy to their Legislative Assembly. By 

1800 he had secured the displeasure of Touissant, who feared him 
as a rival. For that reason the former fled in a Danish ship to St. 
Thomas. He reached France, the land for which he had set out, a 
year later, in the meanwhile having been captured and imprisoned 
on the Island of St. Christopher by the Americans, who were at that 
time friendly to the first president of the black republic. He lemained 
in France for some years. In 1810 he returned to Haiti and with- 
out bloodshed set up'a government independent of the president's in 
the southern part of the island. This concession came to an end 
when he died, in Cayes, on September 17, 1811. Others of the vol- 
unteers who saved the day at Savannah for the Americans were 
Beauvais, Martial Besse, Jaurdain. Lambert. Christophe, Morne, 
Villet, Toureaux, Cange, Leveille, :SIonsieur Belley and Monsieur 
Beauregard. On' this occasion Beauregard received a severe wound 
in the hip, which made him a cripple for life. In the engagement he 
stood near Pulaski and saw him fall. His last days were spent in 
South Carolina, where he died at an advanced age. 

- Georgia. 

Like South Carolina. Georgia was a colony of plantations, on 
which many Negroes rendered efficient service. Some of these, as 
elsewhere, did pioneer work in the American Revolution. As early 
as November, 177G, the slaves of Gov. Wright were, by order of 
tlie Council of Safety, directed to build a battery on the Tybee River. 
These men are spoken of as "able ax men." On another occasion 
Negroes of the same plantation erected a strong fort and ^11 of the 



5^ MISSING PACES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

slaves and twenty white men were there armed in its defens^i. 
About this time Negroes were employed to repair Ihe causeway of 
Great Ogechee Ferry. A resolution of the house of the assembly in 
Savannah, Georgia. J\Iay, 1778, empowered the governor to draft 
from confiscated estates of Loyalists two hundred able-bodied slaves 
for the use of the Continental army, to act as pioneers in the expe- 
dition agaiTist East Florida, and one hundred more for the use of 
the militia and state forces in the same expedition. These men 
were to do fatigue duty. Trustees were appointed to take cfiarge 
of the estates and to see that these slaves were furnished for duty. 
Until these men were available divisions of the army marching into 
Georgia to join the governor of the state from South Carolina had 
the bad roads over which they passed repaired by Negroes from 
neighboring plantations. It became necessary to use force to sep- 
arate the slaves from their Loyalist masters, and a resolution of 
the executive council ordered captains whose militia companies were 
in districts in which there were confiscated estates to bring the re- 
quired blacks to Savannah. State records reveal the fact that until 
the war closed these men saw service of various grades with the 
military corps to which they were assigned. 

Negroes in the United States Navy During the Revolution. 

At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War the United States had 
no navy. Therefore many vessels, previously used in trade or for 
traffic, were fitted up for warfare on the high seas. By these a large 
number of British ships whose object it was to supply powder on 
this side of the Atlantic were captured. Most of these improvised 
war ships, as well as the regulars of the later period, were more or 
less manned by men of color. There were twenty Negroes on the 
Royal Lewis, a boat of twenty-six guns, commanded by Capi. 
Stephen Decatur. They were found in varying numbers on the 
Trumble. the South Carolina, the Randolph, the Confederacy and 
the Alliance. Among the crew of the latter vessel was the black 
Joshua Tiffany. He afterwards served in the war of 1 812. Here 
also was James Forten,* of Pennsylvania, who, with his mother's 
consent, entered the navy at the early age of twelve, where he 
served as a powder boy. On his second voyage Forten was made a 
prisoner of war. He was placed on board the English ship Amphyon 
where he was offered liberty and a life' of ease in England by the 



*This gentleman was the grandfather of the late Mrs. Francis 
Grimke, of Washington, D, C. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 59 

captain, with whose son he had become very friendly aboard ship, 
but always when tempted by such prospects he would answer, "I am 
a prisoner for the liberties of my country. I shall never prove traitor 
to her interests." This he said in spite of the fact that he was well 
aware he might any day be sold as a slave in the British West 
Indies. He was finally sent to the Old Jersey prison ship, carrying a 
letter of commendation from Capt. Be^sley, of the Amphyon, and 
asking for his exchange wdien possible. On this vessel he remained 
seven months, watching always for a chance to escape. His gener- 
ous nature caused him to give up his first opportunity to a young 
friend, who went ofif in a chest of old clothes, in which Forten had 
planned to leave. He was detained on the Old Jersey about fourteen 
months. In after years when urged to request a pension he would 
proudly say, "I was a volunteer, sir." On the Alliance was also 
David Mitchell, a free Negro, who had been captured while on his 
way from Bermuda to Nova Scotia in an English vessel. On being 
carried into Newburyport, Massachusetts, he petitioned for his lib- 
erty, saying he wished to remain in this country. The petition was 
granted and he enlisted in the navy of the United States. The 

naval records show the names of Caesar , a mere boy, serving 

on the Brig Hazard under Capt. Job Williams ; Cato Blackney, a pri- 
vate, who did duty on the volunteer ship Deane ; Cato , a 

cooper, of Boston, who enlisted on the brig Prospect, commanded 
by Capt. Joseph V'esey, and John ]\Ioore, a skipper, of Maryland, on 
the sloop Roebuck. This boat was captured by the English vessel 
Dragon, and Moore and others of the crew were kept prisoners at 
Newport for some time. 

' A Talk of thd; Frontiivr. 

Sometime between 1780 and 1785 the Staton family moved from 
North Carolina to a point near what is now known as Crab Orchard, 
in the State of Kentucky. xA.fter building a log cabin, the head of 
the family returned to his native state with pack horses to bring 
back the property which could not be transported on the first trip, 
leaving his wife and children \v'ith no other protection than that of 
a faithful Negro slave named Pete. Two clays after Mr. Staton 
had gone away his wife and oldest son. Jack, were attacked by In- 
dians while the mother was doing the family washing in a spring not 
far from the house. The redskins, after mutilating and murdering 
the woman, left her dead body hanging in the bushes. The boy, 
however, succeeded in escaping, and climbing the steep bank leading 
to the house, he gave warning to Pete, who was minding the other 



6o MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

children. In a short time the trusty hlack man had rushed into the 
house, seized his master's gun and ammunition, and ordered the 
children to proceed ahead of him to the forest. When about half a 
mile away from the house he remembered he had left behind the 
youngest, an infant in the cradle, and leaving the children he re- 
turned to the house, where ''he not oVly rescued the baby, but brought 
along some provisions as well. He earried all to the hills, where 
they lived safely in his care until the return of the father and mas- 
ter. Mr. Staton set Peter free and named the infant in his honor. 
Since then one child in each generation of the family has been so 
named for the same reason. Peter did not leave his master's roof 
after securing his liberty, but spent much of his time in hunting and 
killing Indians. He became one of the most noted Indian hunters 
of that period. 

(Note: The truthfulness of this story is vouched for by W. R. 
Jones, a banker of Yellville, Arkansas. Mr. Jones is a direct de- 
srendent of the baby rescued by the Negro Peter. Chief Justice 
Harlan, late of the United States Supreme Court, was also a de- 
scendent of the Staton family.) 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 6 1 

WAR OF 1812. 

Cause;s. 

In spite of the Treaty of 1783, Great Britain was refiictant to rec- 
ognize the independence of America, and manifested her unwilHng- 
ness in many ways that were unpleasant to the young repubHc. One 
of these annoyances consisted in continuing to hold military posts 
on the western frontier. These she refused to pass over to the 
United States, and from them she supplied the Indians with arms, 
and for years incited them to hostility. When the Napoleonic wars 
were in progress she recruited her navy by press-gangs, whom she 
disciplined by floggings. In order to escape from this severe treat- 
ment many men deserted. Often, to secure more liberal wages, 
they entered the merchant marine of the United States, which at 
that time seemed destined to rival that of England, to whom manv 
desirable ports were then closed and whose coasts were blockaded 
by the French. That she might secure her men. Great Britain 
ordered her captains to reclaim them on American boats. Succeed- 
ing in this, her next move was to declare that a British subject had 
no right to enter into any military or marine service save fhat of 
his own country, and that on this ground she could take English- 
men wherever she found them, be they deserters or not. Acting 
•upon this assumption, her warships stopped American merchant 
vessels anywhere upon the high seas and sent their officers and men 
aboard to look for and to secure British subjects. The ablest sea- 
men were, of course, selected, and any sailor unable on the ?pot to 
prove that he was not a part of the British nation was carried to 
serve on the decks of his captors. Some of these kidnapped per- 
sons were released upon the application of American consuls on 
duty in the po#ts where they happened to be taken. When the case 
was brought up the English always defended themselves by saying 
that since both nation^ spoke the same Inaguage it was a (hfficult 
matter to be sure as to the citizenship of those they had caotured. 
They overlooked the fact that beside Negroes they had taken many 
Swedes, Danes and Portuguese. It is estimated that through these 
violations of the sovereignty of nations (for the chip's deck is the 
territory of the country to which it belongs), fourteen thousand 
men were forced to service in the navy of Great Britain. These im- 
pressments were made, not only on the high seas, but within the 
three-mile limit, and coasting and fishing schooners, as well as all 
other kinds of ships, were robbed of their men. 



62 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

Tllli ClIliSAPIvAKE; Al'l'WlR. 

In the year 1800 the American frigate Chesapeake was captured 
hy the English man-of-war Leopard after tlie former's commander 
had refused to allow her to be searched for deserters. In the fusi- 
lade coincident with her capture some of the crew were killed and 
several others were w'ounded by the British. Four men were taken 
from the Chesapeake. One of these, David Martin, was a Negro 
of Massachusetts. He was an American, but had been impressed at 
ar; earlier date on the Melampus, in the service of England, from an 
American boat in the Bay of Biscay. The captives were all carried 
to Halifax, Nova Scotia. It developed that only one was an Eng- 
lishman. He was hanged on the charge of desertion. The rest were 
reprieved, on the condition that they enter the British service. It 
was not until June, 1812, that two of these men were restored to 
their native land. At that time they were returned to the same ship 
from which they had been taken. The boat was then lying in the 
Boston harbor. At her gangway they were received by Lieut. Wil- 
kinson from Lieut. Simpson, a British officer. They were then es- 
corted to the deck, where they were presented to Commodore Bain- 
bridge, who said, "My lads. I am glad to see you. From this deck 
vou were taken by a British outrage. For your return you owe 
gratitude to your country. Your country now offers you an oppor- 
tunity to revenge your wrongs, and I cannot doubt you will be de- 
sirous of doing so on board this v£ry ^lip. I trust this flag that 
flies on board of her shall gloriously defend you in the future." 

The affair between the Chesapeake and the Leopard caused great 
excitement in this country. Many international complications fol- 
lowed, and an apology was demanded, but the English refused to 
discontinue their search. Not wishing to declare war, the United 
States first ordered British men-of-war to leave our waters, and a 
little later laid an embargo on all shipping in American ports, thus 
prohibiting the sending of exports therefrom. In 1809 the Embargo 
Act was repealed and a svstem of non-intercourse and non-importa- 
tion was established in tlie cases of both Great Britain and France 
until either or both would repeal the decrees that they had formerly 
made against neutral commerce. While France seemed inclined to 
revoke her decree, England evaded meeting the issue. Such a state 
of dissatisfaction followed that w^ar was declared in June. 1812. 

Our countrv had, bv the census of 1810, a slave population of over 
a million, while there were almost two hundred thousand free people 
of color here. Most of the latter w^ere to be found, of course, in .the 
North. The free Negro had, in spite of much opposition and prej- 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 63 

udice, become much Americanized. In some places he had even the 
right, of suffrage. This was true in five of the original states. He 
was the owner of property and the depositor in banks. He was 
sending his children to school in Washington, Baltimore, Philadel- 
phia, New York and Boston, and he had organized one separate 
church.* His patriotism kept pace with his progress along other 
lines, and when the war began he responded to the call to enlist, vol- 
unteering in large numbers, especially in the navv where, says one x 
writer, who lived in those days, "there seems to be an entire ab- 
sence of prejudice against black messmates among the crews of all / 
ships." 

The battles of the various campaigns of this war were fought all 
oyer that part of the United States lying east of the Mississippi 
River, between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Some of 
large moment occurred on the high seas. Indeed, this war has not 
been incorrectly called "a sailors' war." The first year of the con- ( 
flict was marked by several disasters on land, notably among them 
being a defeat at Detroit and the loss of many men from the Ameri- 
can ranks in a battle fought in Michigan on the Raisin River. 

Attacks on Washington, Baltimore and Other Towns on 

THE Coast. 

In the spring of the years 1813-14 the scene shifted somewhat 
from the northern border to the Middle Atlantic States. Many 
depredations were made by the English on the coast at this period. 
There were attacks at Havre de Grace, Maryland, and on the Dela- 
ware shore, which were made with the hope of drawing away the 
American forces from Canada. At last the conduct of the enemy 
made the Americans entertain great fear for the safety of the na- 
tional capital, for the forces of Great Britain had succeeded in en- 
tering the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Gen. Winder was then 
ii, charge of the military district which included Maryland and the 
District of Columbia. Early in August it was reported that the 
enemy had entered the Patuxent River, a tributary to the Chesa- ' 
peake. It was expected that the English would make a landing from 
this stream and proceed overland to Washington. To prevent this 
Gen. Winder, with a force of several thousand men, awaited their 
coming at Wood Yard, about twelve miles from the capital city. 

*The African Metlxodist Episcopal Church, established in Phila- 
delphia, Pa, 



64 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

This body of militia had been hastily gathered from Maryland and 
Virginia. Black men were in its ranks. Among them were John 
B. Vashon, who volunteered in Leesburg, Virginia, for land service, 
when the colored men of the northern part of his state were called 
upon to aid in the defense of the country, as soon as the alarm was 
given that the British were nearing the capital. Another Negro who 
entered the army of the United States at this time was Louis 
Boulagh, a freeman of the State of Virginia. Later he was trans- 
ferred to the squadron of Commodore J. Shaw, and served in the 
navy until the close of the war. 

Effecting a landing on the Potomac River, the British marched 
in the opposite direction to that which it had been expected they 
w^ould, and turned toward Washington by way of Bladensburg, a 
small village about six miles to the northeast of the capital. Here 
they met the men under Commodore Barney, whose flotilla had for 
some weeks previous patrolled the tributaries of the Chesapeake 
Bay, these men being now the only available force for defensive 
service for Washington. The meeting, which occurred August 18, 
1814, resulted only in a skirmish. The scene of the encounter was a 
slope, upon which a slight earthwork had been thrown up by the 
Americans! Black men helped in the erection of this fortification, 
and served also as soldiers and teamsters. Six guns were mounted 
at this place. The Americans were put to route in this fight and 
the brave Barney was very badly wounded. 

IVashington, D. C. \ 

The proximity of the British greatly alarmed the citizens of Wash- 
ington, and yet there was little they could do to defend themselves. 
Following the skirmish at Bladensburg the capital of the nation 
was stormed. The White House, the Capitol and many other pub- 
lic buildings, as well as a great deal of private p-operty, were 
burned. In the navy yard there were but a few officers and order- 
lies Most of the latter were black men, and a few of the same race 
were on duty about the city. The rest of the militia were still m 
Maryland with Gen. Winder. 

Baltimore, Md. 

The trouble in Washington caused much excitement in Baltimore, 
whose inhabitants felt it might be their turn next. Therefore, 
through an order of the Vigilance Committee, issued on August 27, 
the Monumental City was divided into four sections, as follows: 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 65 

First Section : The eastern precinct and the eighth ward 

becond Section : Fifth, sixth and seventh wards. 

Third Section: Second, third and fourth wards. 

Fourth Section : First ward and western precinct. 

Breastworks were erected in all of these sections. Exempts and 
free people of color of the first section were called out on Sunday 
morning at six o'clock to Hampstead Hill, where, with provisions 
to last them through the day they went to work. This same class 
of people was set to work at the same hour at Myer Garden in the 
second section on Monday morning. On Tuesday, those residing in 
the third district began throwing up breastworks in Washington 
Square, while the black and the white inhabitants of the fourth\ dis- 
trict proceeded to the corner of Eutaw and Market streets on 
Wednesday morning that they might do their share in preparing de- 
fences for the city. Owners of slaves were asked to'send the same 
to work on the days assigned to the several districts in whicij Ihev 
lived. The masters complied with this request. No event is said to 
have occurred on the part of the black and white compatriots "to 
sully the character of an individual soldier." On the third of Sep- 
tember the Vigilance Commitiee resolved : "That all free people of 
color be, and they are hereby ordered, to attend daily, commencing 
with Wednesday, the fifth instant, at the dififerent works erected 
about the city for the purpose of laboring thereon, and for which 
they shall receive an allowance of fifty cents a day. together with a 
soldier's rations.'' Following these preparations Baltimore was at- 
tacked both by land and by sea. The battle on the sea was the 
hombarding of Fort McHenry. It was at this time that the song, 
"The Star Spangled Banner," was written. A land engagement 
took place about two miles out of the city, near Bear Cieek, on the 
road to North Point. Beside working at putting up fortifications, 
colored men were employed in and about the city of Baltimore in 
other capacities, for they manned the batteries and also carried mus- 
kets. 

Philadelphia. ' -J 

Alarmed by the conduct of the foe at Washington and Baltimore, 
many of the other coast cities began to make preparation for their 
own protection. In Philadelphia, the Vigilance Committee solicited 
the aid of Absolem Jones, Richard Allen and James Forten, all 
Negroes. It was desired that these men should secure the services 
of members of their own race in erecting defences about the city. 
Through their efforts twenty-five hundred black men w-ere gathered 



66 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

in the yard of the State House in August and marched to Grey's 
Ferry, on the west side o the Schuylkill River, where for two days 
they were employed in throwing up fortifications, for which they 
received a vote of thanks, tendered them by the city. Mr. Forten 
himself worked on these breastworks with twenty of his journey- 
men. A body of colored troops was organized here at this time and - 
placed under an officer of the United States Army. » 

New York, N. Y. 

On October 24, 1814, the state of New York, in its legislature, 
provided for the raising of two regiments of free men for service 
in the army in this way : 

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State oi New 
York, represented in the senate and the assembly, that the governor 
of this state be, and is hereby authorized to raise by voluntary en- 
listment, two regiments of free men of color for the defense of the 
state for three years, unless sooner discharged. 

"Section 2. And be it further enacted, that the said regiments 
shall consist of one thousand and eighty able-bodied men, and the 
said regiment shall be formed into a brigade or be organized in such 
manner and employed in such service as the governor of the state 
shall deem best adapted to defend the said state. 

"Section 3. And be it further enacted, that all the commissioned 
oflficers of said regiments and brigades shall be white men, and the 
governor of the state shall be, and is hereby, authorized to com- 
mission by brevet all the officers of the said regiments and Vigades 
who shall hold their respective commission until the council of ap- 
pointment shall have appointed the officers of said regiments and 
brigades in pursuance of the constitution and laws of said state. 

"Section 4. * * * 

"Section 5 * * *, 

"Section 6. And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for 
any able-bodied slave, with a written consent of a master or mistress 
to enlist in such corps and the master or mistress of such 
slaves, shall be entitled to the pay and bounty allowed him 
for his service. And further, that the said slave, at the time of his 
receiving his discharge, shall be deemed and adjudged to have been 
legally manumitted from that time, and his master or mistress shall 
not thenceforward be liable for his maintenance," 



missing pages in american history 67 

_ Service on the High Seas. 

Capt. Porter, who afterward became an admiral in the United 
States Navy, sailed around Cape Horn in the year 1813. He made 
this trip into the Pacific Ocean on the Essex in order to meet the 
Constitution and the Hornet, with both of which vessels he had 
orders to co-operate. Failing to find either of these men-of-war, he 
made attacks upon British whalers and largely destroyed their 
activities in the Pacific, securing four thousand tons of British ship- 
ping and four hundred prisoners through his operations. Among 
the engagements in which Porter took part on this trip was that be- 
tween his ship and the Phoebe and the Chemf. Black boys as well 
as men were in the service on the Essex. When Lieut. Wilmer lost 
his life through a shot which swept him overboard, so great was the 
grief of Rufif,* a little Negro boy employed by the former, that he 
committed suicide by jumping overboard. The Essex was finally 
captured ofif the coast of Chile. 

The Shannon Affair. 

The battle between the Shannon and the American boat Chesa- 
peake occurred between Cape Cod and Cape Anne, about thirty 
miles from Boston Light. It was so near the coast that it might 
be seen from Salem Heights. It began shortly after six-thirty on the 
morning of June first, 1813, at which time the boats became en- 
tangled. A little later an order was issued that the Chesapeake's 
boarders be called out.f There were many Negroes on this ship, one 
of them George Brown, a bugler, was told to give the necessary 
signal which would summon these men (boarders). This duty was 
usually performed by a drummer and the unfortunate bugler, not 
clearly comprehending his task, sounded only a feeble blast. It 
then became necessary to give all orders orally, most of which were 
misunderstood. Much confusion and many blunders were the 
sequence, and after a very short but hot engagement the Americans 
were overwhelmed and the brave Lawrence and all his officers lost 
their lives at this Jime. 



♦This boy. was doubtless, a powder boy. It was his duty to carry 
powder for the gunner. 

fSailing ships used to fight with their yard arms interlocked. The 
"boarders" were those who went aboard the enemy's ship to fight 
him. 



68 MISSING f AGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

The Battles of Lake Champlain and of Plattsburg. 

During the fall of 1814: the Americans won some important vic- 
tories in northern New York. For several days in the month of 
August a large force of some fourteen thousand picked men had 
been encamped on Lake Saranac, under the British Gen. Macomb. 
During a trip from Plattsburg to Sackett's Hafbor, N. Y., the 
Americans put these men into such rapid retreat that they left be- 
hind them great quantities of provisions and were forced to de- 
stroy a great deal of ammunition which they could not carry. "A 
very fine martial-looking set of colored men were attached to the 
American Army on this occasion." Among tkese was Robert Van 
\^ranken, of Albany. 

While the conflict raged on land, another was being waged on 
nearby Lake Champlain, September 11, 181L When it began the 
enemy's ships were about three hundred yards away from those of 
the Americans. Starting at nine o'clock, a furious iire was kept up 
for two hours, at the end of which time the Briti^Ji surrendered. 
The fight was so terrific "there was not a mast left on either squad- 
ron that could stand to make a sail on." This battle was won by a 
"superiority of gunnery," and a large proportion of the gunners 
were men of color. Among these were John Day, who was a marine 
on board the row gallev \''iper. and stood like a man at his post in 
the thickest of the fight, while the blood of his associates washed 
the deck. Later he was drafted to go with Commodore Bainbridge's 
relief squadron to the Mediterranean Sea. This expedition went 
out to rescue American commerce. Day was discharged from the' 
navy March 18. 1816. The result of these two engagements was 
that the Americans regained possession of northern New York. 
Another Negro who helped to bring about this satisfactory condi- 
tion was Charles Black, who had been an impressed seaman. He 
lost nine hundred dollars owed him by England when he refused to 
serve that countrv at the outbreak of this war. For his refusal he 
was placed in Dartmoor prison, along with many others of his_ fel- 
low-countrymen of the same race. This prison was located m a 
lonely part of Devonshire Countv, England, about fifteen miles from 
Plymouth and was surrounded bv a dreary, barren marshland. 
It was enclosed by circular walls, the outside one being a mile in cir- 
cumference. It was necessary to pass through five gates to get be- 
hind the prison walls, and a reservoir was built m front of the first 
pate The prison consisted of several stone buildings, each large 
enough to hold fifteen hundred men. The guard consisted of two 
thousand militia and two companies of artillery. During the time 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 69 

when England was seizing seamen, besides whites four hundred 
^egroes were here imprisoned. Their sufferings were 'terrible and 
escape was almost impossible. In some manner, however, Black 
g:ot away, returned to his own country and entered the navy in 
time to participate in the action on the lake. His father was at 
Bunker Hill and his grandfather was in the French an<J Indian War. 

Services of Negroes on Board Privateers. 

Privateers fitted out in Baltimore, New York, Salem and several 
other seaports played an important part in this war, for the Amer- 
ican Navy was at that time entirely too small to cope with the foe. 
Several hundreds of these boats sailed the high seas, harrassing and 
ci.pturing merchant vessels as well as the smaller warboats of Eng- 
land. It seems that they went everywhere, to the North Cape, into 
the British and the Irish Channels, on the coasts of Spain and of 
Portugal, to the East and the West Indies, to (jape Good Hope and 
Cape Horn, and on the Indian Oceah. They destroyed millions of 
dollars' worth of property and took several thousand boats. Through 
^ their use many American seamen were employed who would have 
otherwise have had nothing to do,- and black men very often sailed 
on them as members of their crew. 

The Governor Tompkins. 

In December, 1812, a privateer, the Governor Tompkins, of New 
York, gave chase to what appeared to be an English merchantman, 
but which afterward proved to be a frigate in disguise. At last a 
scjuall drove the Tompkins under the very guns of her antagonist. 
In a losing fight, in favor of the enemy, the, American escaped only 
b> lightening her cargo and throwing her ammunition overboard. 
Her escape was not accomplished before the furious fire from the 
enemy had killed two men and wounded six others. Writing of this 
event to his agent in the city of New York, on January 1, 1813, the 
■captain, Nathaniel Shaler, says : ''The name of one of my poor fel- 
lows, who was killed outright, ought to be registered on the book 
•of fame and remembered with reverence as long as bravery is con- 
sidered a virtue. He was a black man by the name of John John- 
son. A twenty- four-pound shot struck him in the hip and took 
away the lower part of his body. In this state the poor brave fellow 
lay on the deck and several times exclaimed, 'Fire away, boys; never " 
haul the colors down.' The other was a black man by the name of 
John Dayij^^ who was struck in much the same way. He fell near 



■^ 



70 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

me, and several times requested to be thrown overboard, saying that 
he was only in the way of the others. While America has such 
tars she has little to fear from the tyrants of the ocean." 

The David Porter. 

In March, 1814, the schooner David Porter, a privateer carrying 
cotton to France from the United 'States, bore a government com- 
mission to take, burn, sink or destroy the enemy's boats. When in 
the Bay of Biscay this vessel captured several merchant ships. One 
of the guns of the David Porter was an eighteen-pounder, mounted 
on a pivot. in midships. This cannon, the only large gun used in the 
capture of these ships, was commanded by a hugh black man about 
six feet high and large in proportion. He was said to be the "best 
natured fellow in the world," and was a general favorite with both 

the officers and the men. His name was Phillip , and his 

gun was the only dependable weapon on the ship, because the other 
(there was only one more and that was a small one) could not be 
used in rough weather. When the Porter made a landing at Lie 
Dieu, of the west coast of France, Phillip accompanied his com- 
mander ashore and attracted very much attention from the natives, 
many of whom had never seen a Negro before. Even the "gov- 
ernor's lady" asked to have a look at him, and he was carried to her 
residence, where he was asked many questions concerning his birth 
place, his traits of character and the like. Feeling he was being 
used as a show he sought and obtained permission to return to the 
boat. ' J Ji! J 

The Battle of Lake Brie. 

In 1813 the United States had good reasons for fearing that the 
English forces stationed in Canada might enter the very heart of 
our country through the lakes on its northern border. By these ap- 
proaches it would have been an easy matter to have seized Fort 
Meigs, on the Maumee River, and thus decided the fate of that di- 
vision'of the American Army under Gen. Harrison, then stationed 
ill this region. To secure the ascendency of these waters a cam- 
paign was planned and Capt. O. H. Perry, a yoimg naval officer, 
was appointed to conduct it. Young Perry had the twofold task 
of creating his squadron as well as that of supermtendmg the con- 
struction of his boats, for the brigs, schooner^ and gunboats com- 
prising his fleet were all built under his eye and direction at 
Presque Island, now Erie, Pennsylvania, during the winter of 



MISSING PXGES IN AMERICAN HISTCJry 71 

1813-14. By the tenth of July all of the ships were armed and 
equipped. There were ten vessels, carrying fifty-iive guns. The 
guns were manned by a force of four hundred men, "one-fourth of 
whom were Negroes.'^ Perry was much dissatisfied with the latter 
class of seamen, who had been sent to him by Commodore Chaun- 
cey, so much so that on July 26th he wrote to his superior officer 
saying, "The men that came by Mr. Chaplin were a motley set' 
blacks, soldiers and boys. I cannot think that you saw them after 
they were selected. I am, however, pleased to see anything in the 
shape of a man." A few days later to this letter the gallant Chaun- 
cey replied, "I regret you were not pleased with the men sent you 
by Messrs. Chaplin and Forrest, for to my knowledge a part of them 
are not surpassed by any seamen we have in the fleet, and I have 
yet to learn that the color of the skin or the cut and trimmings of 
the coat can affect a man's qualifications or usefulness. I have 
nearly fifty blacks on this boat, and many of them are among the 
best of my men, and those people you call soldiers have been on the 
sea from two to seventeen years." Chauncey was about this time 
on board the Pike and engaged in the capture of Port George, in 
the northern part of New York State. As he says, many blacks saw 
service with him in that engagement. 

When the cruise of Perry's fleet began, in its search for the enemy, 
so hurried had been the preparations, that the work was not all com- 
pleted. There had been little time for training of guns and the like. 
The winter had been a hard one and many of the men had been 
sick. On September 13th the enemy was sighted in Put In Bay with 
a fleet of six boats manned by sixty-five guns. The engagement 
began a few minutes before twelve on the same day, the British fir- 
ing as soon as the Americans were half a mile away. As the boats 
neared each other the guns of three or four of the largest of those 
belonging to the foe were centered upon the Lawrence, Perry's 
flagship. This caused her to lose many of her spars and soon ren- 
dered all of her guns, save one on the starboard side, unfit for serv- 
ice. So fierce was the attack upon this boat that she was finally 
forced to drop out of the fight, and Perry's flag was transferred to 
the Niagara. The passage was made in a small sailboat, in which 
rode the commander, his young brother and several of the crew. 
Among the latter was a black man, Cyrus Tift'any. It is he whos5 
likeness is seen in the painting representing the Battle of Lake Erie 
hanging in the Capitol in Washington, D. C. This man was a res- 
ident of Taunton, Massachusetts. He was a noted musician, having 
fifed with the drummer, Simeon Crossman, for the Revolutionary 
soldiers of his native town, and served on the warship, the Alliance, 



72 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

in 1797. When passing from the frigate Lawrence to the Niagara, 
through a storm of bullets and shot. Tiffany, acting on the impulse, 
tried to pull Perry down into a seat out of danger. The painting 
above referred to. shows him in this act, of which he was very proud, 
and concerning which he often spoke on his return home after the 
war was over.* Through Perry he was pensioned. He later lived 
in Newport. Rhode Island, with that officer, and at last died in the 
service on board the Java at the age of eighty, in 1815. While the 
Lawrence took part in the conflict many of her men were fatally 
wounded on her decks. Among them was John Brook, a captain 
of the marines, who was terribly mangled in the hip by a cannon 
ball. The^death of this officer so affected the little mulatto boy of, 
twelve, employed in carrying cartridges on the ship, that he threw 
himself on the deck, crying pitifully; indeed, so great was his ex- 
pression of grief that he was ordered carried below. Upon hearing 
this order he immediately stopped crying and resumed, his work at 
carrying cartridges. This lad was a favorite of Brook as well as 
his property, and just before he breathed his last he gave directions 
into whose hands the boy should pass, asking that he be kindly 
treated. ^ 

As soon as Perry had made his passage to th.e Niagara firing was 
resumed on both sides. In a short time thereafter great confusion 
reigned on the British line, due to the fouling of two of their ves- 
sels when an-effort w^as being made to bring their uninjured broad- 
sides to bear. Taking advantage of this condition the commander 
of the Niagara sailed through the line, having two of the enemy's 
boats on one side and three on the other, firing in both directions as 
he went. This was done at close range and was followed by a rapi<l 
fire in close action on the part of the other American vessels. In 
twenty minutes a white handkerchief on the Queen Charlotte was 
the signal that the English had struck colors. In another hour the 
entire fleet had surrendered. Each side lost a number of men at 
this time. iThe battle on Lake Erie made it possible for American 
troops to invade Canada, and the brilliant campaign which followed 
was due to the removal of the hostile fleet. The most momentous 
event, the result of this, was the Battle of the Thames, through 
vy-hich the British lost the territory of Michigan. It also came about 
that the Indian tribes, allies to the English, were separated, and 
Tecumseh, their great leader, lost his life. On his report of this bat- 



*This fact was stated by Mr. Obed Parker, custodian of the Old 
Colony Historical Association, of Taunton, Mass., to the writer. 



/ 



r^- 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 73 

tie Perry spoke most highly of the conduct of the black men to 
whose presence he had formerly objected, saying in a letter to the 
Secretary of the Navy : "They seemed to be absolutely insensible to 
danger."' Among the Negroes who played a large part in this vic- 
tory were Jessie Wall, a fifer on the Niagara, and x\braham Chase. 
The latter was alive in 18G0. He was ninetv vears of age at that 
time and sat down to a dinner given in Cleveland to the survivors 
of the battle when the statue to Perry was unveiled in that city. 
Abraham \\'illiams, of Pennsylvania, also took a very active part 
in this engagement. He entered the navy in 1812, under Capt 
Elliott, and held a position at one of the guns on the flagship Law- 
rence. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and died in Lead- 
ville, Pennsylvania, in 1834. 



The Americans were very much harrassed by a i-eries of diffi- 
culties with the Indian^, these came principally tlirough attack.-, 
made by the Creeks, a powerful tribe living in what was then the: 
Mississippi Territory, the frontiers of Georgia, Florida and all of 
Alabama. The redskins were supplied with arms by the English 
agents at Pensacola. Florida, which was still a Spanish province. 
They attacked American settlers living in their neighborhood, and 
were made more zealous and ferocious in that a premium was of- 
fered at the British agency for every American scalp that they 
could bring in. At this time there was no American army in this 
section, and the militia of Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama were 
called upon to meet the aboriginies. Gen. Claiborne was in charge 
of the force thus gotten together, and under his direction fcCrtifica- 
tions were put up at various places in this section of the country. 
Many bloody fights took place between the Indians and the whites, 
the most horrible of which occurred at Fort Mims, Alabama. 

The Massacre at Fort Mims. 

Fort ?ilims was located in the southern part of the State of Ala- 
bama, at the conjunction of the Tombigbee and the Alabama rivers. 
On an acre of land, under the superintendence of a settler by the 
name of Samuel Mims, an enclosure had been made of upright logs, 
thereby ma-king a stockade, in the center of which stood the large 
one-story dwelling of this wealthy pioneer. For some time no In- 
dians were seen in this neighborhood. Finally the alarm w^as given 
in the month of August, 1813, that the Indians were lurking about, 
and the whites living along the river's banks, becoming much 



74 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY , 

alarmed for their safety, left their homes and carried their slaves 
into the stockade. On August 30th there were five hundred and 
fifty-three souls in the fortification, one hmidred of whom were 
v/hite women. On the evening before the massacre Negro slaves 
minding cows reported having seen the redskins not far from the 
fort. Their word, however, was not taken, and the very next day, 
at dinner time, the fort was surrounded by the enemy. The inhab- 
itants fought very bravely for three hours, but at the end of that 
time the Indians set fire to the place and drove them into a small en- 
closed section of the stockade where they were butchered in a ter- 
rible manner, neither women, children nor old men being spared. 
At sunset four hundred of their bloody corpses lay about the place. 
One hundred Negroes lost their lives in this conflict. A Negro 
woman, who bore the name of Hester (sometimes mentioned as 
Esther), although wounded in the chest by a ball, in some way man- 
aged to escape through a hole in the fence and, in spite of her suf- 
ferings she reached ^he shores of Lake Tensaw, where, finding a 
canoe, she paddled fifteen miles to Fort Stoddard, and was thus the 
first to carry news of the attack to Gen. Claiborne, who was sta- 
tioned at that place. 

All through the year 1813 Indian warfare continued. There were 
battles at Talasahatche, Taledaga and Auttuse, all Alabama settle- 
ments. In these colored men assisted the settlers in many lines of 
defense. One by the name of Evans, acting as a spy. went with sev- 
eral white men across the x'Mabama River, reconnoitering in an east- 
ern direction from Fort Aladison. In a skirmish, which followed 
their finding an Indian camp, Evans lost his life. , 

The Canoe Fight. 

In a fixed determination to drive the Indians across the frontier 
many pioneers armed themselves, formed scouting parties, and 
scoured the country far and wide. Gen. Dale, an early settler, was 
foremost in this undertaking. He formed a small party of men to 
march in an expedition to the northern part of Alabama in Novem- 
ber to look for Indians. Finding none there, he proceeded to the 
southeast and reached Randon's Landing, on the Ak'ibama River, 
where a free Negro by the name of Caesar, a member of his party, 
had concealed two canoes. In these boats the men of the expedition 
were to cross the stream. On a morning when all had been ferried 
across but seven, who were eating a hastily prepared breakfast of 
boiled beef and potatoes, shouts from the opposite side of the river 
^i'arned them that they were about to be attacked by Indians. It 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 75 

turned out, however, that the redskins, who were skulking in the 
grass, did not see the. whites, who were screened by a small bank, 
and they soon left the scene, but were shortly followed by a small 
party of eleven others of their race, this time all painted chiefs, who 
came down the river in a flatboat. Upon these men Dale opened 
fire, calling upon his men. who were on the other bank, to aid him. 
They did paddle out a short distance toward the middle of the 
stream, but for some reason went back again, leaving him to man- 
age as best as he could. Their actions made Dale very angry and 
he leaped into the smaller of the two boats, followed by two of the 
seven men who were on his side of the river, and all were paddled 
b) the brave Caesar straight toward the Indian canoe, in which now 
stood nine red men ready for a fierce fight. (Two of the occupants 
of the boat had leaped into the stream and swam to the shore, j 
When within twenty yards of the enemy Dale again opened fire 
and ordered Caesar to carry his boat directly to the side of that of 
the foe, which the latter unhesitatingly did, and as he accomplished 
this feat he held the two (boats) in a mighty grasp. Ihis deed en- 
abled Dale to fight with one foot in his own boat and one in that of 
the enemy. No word was spoken during the conflict save the or- 
ders given concerning the placing of the boa4: and a request made by 
Caesar when the general was disarmed that he accept the use of the 
former's bayonet and musket, both of which were accepted. This 
fight resulted in a victory for the whites; all of the Indians were 
killed. Among them were several powerful chiefs. It occurred at. 
what is now Claiborne, Alabama. 

The Indian conflicts were not ended, however, until near the close 
of the year 1814. Had the redskins not been subdued New Orleans 
and Mobile could not have been defended. 

A Negro Rally at Fort Boylr, Alabama. 

Mobile Point commanded the end of the peninsula at the entrance 
of the bay of the same name, as well as the navigation of the tribu- 
taries of this body of water, near the city of Mobile. It also con- 
trolled the sea approaches to west Florida, and was sc near Pensa- 
cola as to be within easy and swift communication with the same. 
Lake Borgne occupied the larger part of this place, the rest of which, 
consisting of ditches and ravines oi sand, was partly covered with 
vegetation. On the northern extremity of this point was Fort Boyer, 
a redoubt formed on the water side by a semi-circular battery ex- 
tending four hundred feet. Here, as soon as report came m 1813 
of British preparations being made at Pensacola, the garrison began 



76 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

to make reinforcements. An attack was made by the English m^ 
September. The clay following Boyer was bombarded by the 
enemy's ship Hermes, and for several days a furious fire was kept 
up on both sides. The engagement resulted in a victory for the 
Americans. Before this was accomplished, however, a charge was 
made by the latter, under Gen. Stump, and so furiously was it met 
by the English that the Americans retreated in confusion. It is said 
that even the leader took to flight. It was then that Jeffrey, a Negro,- ^ 
leaping to the back of a horse, rallied the men by imploring them to 
follow his lead and face the foe. This act had the desired result. 
Fear was forgotten and the day was won after the assault had con- 
tinued incessantly until the 18th of the month. During this time 
one thousand shells had been fired from English warships. Andrew 
Jackson gave Jeffrey the title of "major" for his conduct on this oc- 
casion. This he was always called, even until the time of his death 
iii Nashville, Tennessee, many years later. Beside Jeffrey and other 
msn of color in this siege, there was the freeman, L. C. Flewellen, 
of Georgia. 

Closing Scenes of the War. 

( 
... \ 

Realizmg the serious state of affairs threatening because of the ^ 
depredations of the British on the southern coast of the United 
States, Jackson sent from his headquarters in Mobile, Alabama, on 
the 21st of September, 1814, a proclamation to the people of Louis- 
iana announcing that the general government relied upon them for 
assistance in its defense in this quarter. This was certainly true, 
for a circular letter sent out from the War Department only a short 
time before had invited the governors of what were then the south- 
ern states, namely, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Territory 
of Mississippi, to organize and hold in readiness upwards of one 
hundred thousand, troops for immediate service in the second war 
with England. Sometime before this it had been proposed to organ- 
ize some battalions of free colored men living in this section of the 
country for service in the army, but so great was the objection 
raised to this plan on the part of the planters that Jackson made no 
effort to put it into operation. He now, however, felt that the con- 
ducting of such a scheme was unavoidable, and at the time he made 
his appeal to the whites of Louisiana he also addressed the blacks 
of the same place in the following words : 

"Through a mistaken policy you have heretofore been deprived 
of a participation in the glorious struggle for national rights in 
which this country is engaged. This shall no longer exist. As sons 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 77 

of freedom you are now called upon to defend our most inestimable 
blessing. As Americans, our country looks upon her adopted chil- 
dren for a valorous support, as a faithful return for the advantages 
enjoyed under her mild, equitable government. As fathers, hus- 
bands and brothers, you are sunmioned to rally 'round the standard 
of the Eagle, to defend all of which is most dear in existence. Your 
country, although calling for your exertions, does not wish you to 
engage in her cause without remunerating you for the services ren- 
dered. Your intelligent minds are not to be lead away by false rep- 
resentations. Your love of honor would cause you to despise the 
man who should attempt to deceive you. With the sincerity of a sol- 
dier I now address you. To every noble, true-hearted man of color 
volunteering to serve through the present conflict with Great Britain, 
and no longer, there will be paid the same bounty in land 'and mone}' 
now received by the white soldiers of the United States, namely, 
one hundred and sixty acres of land. The non-commissioned offi- 
cers and privates will be entitled to the same monthly pay, daily 
rations and clothes furnished to any American soldier. On enrolling 
yourselves ii;i companies the major general commanding will select 
officers for your government from your white fellow-citizens. Your 
non-commissioned officers may be appointed from among yourselves. 
Due regard will be paid to the feelings of freemen and soldiers. You 
will not, by being associated wit^i white men in the same corps, be 
exposed to improper comparisons or unjust sarcasm. As a distinct 
battalion or regiment, pursuing the path of glory, you will undi- 
vided receive the applause and gratitude of your countrymen. To 
assure you of the sincerity of my intention and my anxiety to en- 
gage your invaluable services to this country, I have communicated 
my wishes to the Governor of Louisiana, who is fully informed as 
to the manner of enrollment and will give you any necessary infor- 
mation on the subject of this address.'' 

In response to this call a battalion of two hundred and eighty 
freemen of color was quickly formed through a special act of the 
Louisiana Legislature and placed under the command of Maj. La- 
coste. The equipment of these soldiers was purchased with funds 
that came from the purse of Col. Fortier, a Creole. The men were 
ready to enter the field a few hours after they entered the ranks. 

In the year 1814 the cultivation of cotton and of sugar were both 
American industries in the state of infancy. Although this was true, 
there were one hundred and fifty thousand bales of the former sta- 
ple stored away in New Orleans, and there were ten thousand hogs- 
heads of sugar in the city. *The cotton alone would have been worth 
many pounds sterling to the manufacturers of Manchester, Eng- 



78 MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

land. The Crescent City, then, became a coveted prize to the eyes 
of the British soldiers, who felt it would be an easy matter to sub- 
due the city's mixed population of French Creoles, Spanish, Ameri- 
can whites, and people of color. A number of the latier were free, 
educated and the owners of considerable wealth. 

During this period one L,afitte, who lived on an island oft the 
lower end of the state of Ivouisiana, sent a package of letters to the 
legislature conveying information concerning a tnreatened invasion 
6n the part of the bnglish. This intelligence threw the city of New 
Orleans into a state of confusion because it was feared that the 
advent of the enemy would not only make Louisiana subject to a 
toreign master, but would also prevent the navigation of the Missis- 
sippi River on the part of the settlers in the West, to which section 
at that time this stream was a necessary and most reliable highway. 
That they might consider the information contained in the letters 
the lawmakers convened on the hfth of October, and after six weeks 
of deliberation they failed to arrange any definite plan for the safety 
or the protection of the citizens and their property. Finally Andrew 
Jackson, who was then at Fort St. John, some seven miles below th<; 
city of 'New Orleans, was requested by the legislative body to come 
to its aid.. Wounded and tired, and accompanied by only a few of 
his officers, he arrived in the Crescent City on the second of Decem- 
ber. Immediately upon beings given the right of way by the legisla- 
tors he began to make plans for the defense of the city "which had 
neither means nor men^ fleet nor forts." At a meeting of the gov- 
ernor and other state officials, held soon after his coming, he pledged 
to protect the city or to die in the attempt, and he appealed to the 
citizens to forget their differences, which were many, and to unite 
with him in this effort. Defensive work was at once begun. All 
the bayous connecting the city with the river were ordered ob- 
structed by earth and sunken logs, and guards were placed at their 
entrance. Planters in the surrounding country were asked to facil- 
itate this undertaking through the services of their slaves, which 
they did. Jackson personally inspected the lower part of the river. 
There he -found out that an old fort, located at Baize, was unavail- 
able for the defense of the lower part of the Mississippi, and Fort 
St. Phillip, at a higher point up the stream, he ordered put into read- 
iness. Back of New Orleans lay Lake Ponchartrain and Lake 
Borgne. Both of these bodies of water were considered as probably 
approaches for the enemy. On the latter was stationed Lieut. Jones 
with six gunboats and several of such vessels iwere also placed on 
Lake Ponchartrain. 



y 



Missing pages in American history 79 

A part of the time, during which these preparations were going 
forward, the English fleet was stationed in the waters of Negril Bay, 
at the western end of the island of Jamaica. In the fleet were twenty 
thousand red coat soldiers, among them being two regiments of 
Negro troops from the West Indies. These men were all animated 
with the hope of not only taking New Orleans but occupying it, and 
they were so sure of success that several gentlemen among them had 
already been selected to hold offices of civil authority. Leaving the 
Jamaican seas the English came in sight of the American shore early 
in December. The main body of the flotilla was left at Prue Island, 
while a small division sailed on and entered Lake Borgne. Here a 
deadly fight took place between the English and the Americans in 
the gunboats stationed on the lake. This result^ in a victory for 
the enemy. Following this engagement more of th2 foe landed in 
a wild section twelve miles below the city and surprised a guard sta- 
tioned at Lpke Ponchartrain. This guard consisted only of a picket 
of eight white men and three mulattoes, who had been located in the 
village of Bien Benue, not far from the lake, by Gen. Villere, a plan- 
ter residing in the neighborhood. Through these encroachments the 
foe now controlled the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This fact 
was of course made known to Jackson on his return from a tour of 
inspection on the 14th of December. He immediately sent orders 
to Gen. Winchester to look out for the protection of Mobile Point. 
He urged Gen. Carrol, who, was known to be approaching with aid 
from the north, to hasten, 'and he made a request to the Secretary 
of War for a quick supply of arms. On or about the 16th of Decem- 
ber the battalion of freemen of color, with a body of dragoons un- 
der Felice, he ordered to proceed to the conjunction of Bayou Sau- 
vage and the River Chef Menten, from which place they might 
watch a road which led into the city on that side of the bayou bear- 
ing the same name as the river. This bayou runs near the rear of. 
New Orleans and from its head the Gentilly road enters that city. 
It (the bayou) also empties into Lake Borgne, which body of water, 
it will be remembered, was then in the possession of the enemy. 
Without a strong guard at this point, then, it is easy to imagine with 
what facility the Crescent City might be invaded by the foe. It was 
at this time that a second battalion of colored men was raised. Al- 
most all of these men were from San Domingo. They had a few 
years before sought refuge in Louisiana while it was a province of 
France, during the reign of Dessalines in Haiti. They had left the 
island after having unsuccessfully fought this dark-skinned ruler 
rather than be ruled by him. These men received their equipment 
through the generosity of the friendly Fortier, and were placed un- 



go MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

der the command of Maj. Dauquin. In- the meantime panic of the 
wildest sort prevailed in New Orleans. There were rumors of trea- 
son and of slave insurrections. Reports of all evencs were greatly 
exaggerated. To restore the confidence of the citizens, Andrew 
Jackso'n published a proclamation, proclaimed martial law, and or- 
dered that all able-bodied men, of whatever rank or station, race or 
color, to serve as soldiers or sailors; So great was the faith of the 
people in Jackson that his conduct had a very salutary effect upon 
them. There was a review of the troops on Sunday, December 
18th, near the old Spanish cathedral in the public square. The en- 
tire population went out to see it. The troops performed military 
evolutions, at whose close each section of the army, whites, Creoles 
and men of color, were separately addressed by Edward Living- 
stone in proclamations coming from the commander-in-chief. To 
the freemen of color he said : "When from the shores of the Mo- 
bile I collected you to take arms, inviting you to share the peril and 
glory of your white fellow-citizens, I expected much from you, for 
1 was not ignorant that you possessed qualities formidable to an in- 
vading army. I knew with what fortitude you could endure hunger 
and thirst and all the fatigues of a campaign. I knew well how you 
loved your native country and how you, like ourselves, had to defend 
what man holds most dear, his parents, wife, children and property. 
You have done more than I expected. In addition to the previous 
qualiticaiions i before knew you to possess, I find among you a 
noble enthusiasm, which leads to the performance of great things. 
Soldiers, the President of the United States shall hear how praise- 
worthy was your conduct in the hour of danger, and the representa- 
tives of the American people will give you the praise your exploit 
entitles you. Your general anticipates them in applauding your 
noble ardor. The enemy approaches. His vessels cover our lakes. 
Our brave citizens are united and all contention has ceased among 
them. Their only dispute is, who shall win the prize or who the 
most glory, its noblest reward." 

Following the review of troops, orders were given for the ob- 
struction of the several canals around the city or of those leading 
into it. Much of this work was, of course, done by slaves. On De- 
cember 21st, a detachment consisting of three regulars, eight other 
white men, two mulattoes, and a Negro were sent out from Maj. 
Villere's plantation to reconnoiter in the neighborhood of Lake Bien 
Venue with the hope of discovering from which direction the British 
were likely to approach. This scouting party went as far as Fish- 
erman's X'illage, where on the left bank of the lake (Bien Venue) 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 8l 

through the kindness of the planters of Louisiana lived some three 
hundred Spanish and Portuguese people. It was found that the 
British, piloted by some of the latter, had landed from a bayou on 
the Villere plantation, about six miles below New Orleans. ^ 

The Battle of Chalmette Plains. 

News reached Jackson on the 23rd of the month that the foe oc- 
cupied the Plains of Chalmette and he decided to fight that night. 
Ordering all their corps to break rank at once, shortly after three 
o'clock that afternoon, he was on the march with a force of some 
four thousand men. Among them was one battalion of freemen of 
color, those of San Domingo; the other battalion was left on duty 
guarding the approach to the city from Gentilly road. It was the 
plan of the commander-in-chief to corner the foe. This he did by 
making a circuitous march, keeping close to the river, until the plan- 
tation was reached. After placing his artillery and some marines on 
high ground he began battle about half past seven in the evening. 
His land forces were aided by a deadly fire from the broadsides of 
the Carolina, the one gunboat remaining on the water. A fierce 
fight was waged, partly in darkness and partly in the light of a full 
moon. Most of it was done at close range, and often sharp knives 
were the only weapons used by /the Americans. The battle occurred 
in plain sight of the plantation houses. By ten o'clock the engage- 
ment was over. The Americans were victorious, having lost only 
twenty-four from their ranks. Jackson was proud of his mixed 
army and in a dispatch to the Secretary of War spoke of the mani- 
festations of great bravery made by the colored men. while a gen- 
tleman who chronicled the events of that period as they were oc- 
curring wrote, referring to these men of color, "they behaved well 
— many being men of property, and all accustomed to labor, pos- 
sessing national pride and constitutional bravery and scorning to be 
outdone by the whites. They were accordingly valuable troops in 
our line." 

■ ' 1 

December 24 — January i. 

< 

Very early the next day Jackson began the fortification of the 
river bank leading to the city. To do this he secured spades, shov- 
els, pickaxes, wheelbarrows and carts from New Orleans, All of 
his. men worked, for each company of troops had its own embank- 
ment to throw up. They made a line of defenses a mile long, and 
in some places five feet high. By night the works were partly com- 



82 MISSING PAGES IN A|»IERICAN HISTORY 

pleted and two small cannon were placed in position on the high- 
road. The operations went on through Christmas Day, while the 
enemy still lurked behind the plantation bouses of Chalmette. Orr 
the twenty-sixth of December the battalion of native colored men, 
under Lacoste, were withdrawn from Gentilly road and stationed 
at Camp Jackson. The next day the Carolina was blown up by the 
English. Meanwhile small bodies of American troops in ambush 
embarrassed th& English with intermittent sharpshooting. On the 
morning of the 28th the British began their advance towards New 
Orleans. The American forces lay between them and the city and 
stopped their progress by a deadly fire. On December twenty- 
eighth or twenty-ninth a portion of the right bank of the river was 
fortified. One hundred and fifty Negroes laid a parapet there. 
These black men also erected a closed redoubt in this neighborhood 
and surrounded it by a foose or ditch. This work was done under 
the direction of Latour by Gen. Jackson's orders. Every effort was 
made to strengthen the protections of the river in the. neighborhood 
of the city. 

The Battle of the Batteries. 

The position of each army had been so advanced through the 
work of fortifications that by January 1st they were within three 
hundred yards of each other and on a broad plain not very far from 
the city of New Orleans. On that day, shortly after ten o'clock in 
the morning, a battle occurred in which fifty pieces of cannon were 
discharged at intervals of from one to three times a minute. Often 
a half dozen gnns were fired simultaneously. On this occasion the 
battalion of native freemen of color occupied the position between 
Batteries three and four, while from between four and fi,ye the San 
Domingans, under Maj. Dauquin, directed their fire against tlie 
enemy. In this engagement four hundred Britons were wounded. 

The Battle of New Orleans. ' 

On January 8th came the Battle of New Orleans. It occurred 
very early in the morning and but a short distance from the city line. 
It was not long before Packingham's great army began to show the 
effect of the telling fire directed from the American batteries in this 
engagement. Both battalions of colored men were on the field at 
this time. They occupied no insignificant place, being quite near 
Andrew Jackson himself and operating the guns in Batteries three 
and four. From the beginning events were in favor of the Ameri- 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 8 



o 



cans. The British commander, malcing an effort to rally his men," 
had a horse killed under him. Later, while leading in a second ef- 
fort to rally his troops, he was shot as he raised his hat to hurrah. 
He received a wound and fell. As his men were lifting him 
to bear him from the field he received a third shot which proved 
fatal. His death occurred a few minutes later under a live oak in 
the rear of the scene. Writing of this event, Andrew Jackson said 
to President Munroe, who was then the Secretary of War, "I have 
always believed he (Packingham) fell from the bullet of a freeman 
of color, a famous rifle shot of the Attakapas District." One or 
two of his aides fell at t\ie same time that Packingham did. The 
death of these men resulted in panic and confusion for the enemy. 
Troops lost their courage and fled in wild dismay. In a short time, 
save for the wounded, dying or dead, the immediate field was clear. 
In a faraway ditch were the English forces under Gen. Lambert, 
who had escaped by lying upon the ground on their faces. For a 
quarter of a mile the field was covered with the dying or the dead. 
When the conflict was over the Americans were much stirred by the 
sight of their melancholy victory, and without asking leave began 
to render first-aid service, even carrying the wounded on their backs 
into their camps. Many of the English, not understanding the lan- 
guage of the blacks who came from the American lines, unarmed, to 
assist in relieving the injured, fired upon them, thus kilhng a large 
number. Four hundred of the enemy were wounded at this time. 
Many were carried into New Orleans and nursed. A few officers 
were cared for by the whites, and many privates by the quadroon 
women, who were already famous as nurses in time of pestilence, 
and who offered their services for this work most freely. For this 
they received no compensation of any kind whatever, although they 
faithfully watched by the wounded Britons day and night. Among 
the freemen of color in this battle was Jordan Noble, the "match- 
less drummer." In his corps were Adolph Brooks and William Sav- 
age. He appeared in the celebration of the Battle of New Orleans 
at the St. Charles Theater in 1854, in the city of the same name. 
There was also John Julius, sometimes called Julius Bennoit, who 
while engaged on the breastworks of Chalmette was wounded in the 
neck by a bayonet, and there, too, was Anthony Gill. Jackson, in 
speaking of the battle, said, "The two corps of colored volunteers 
have not disappointed the hopes that were formed of their courage 
^nd perseverence in the performance of duty. 



J 



§4 MISSING tAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

Negroes at Fort St. Phillips. 

Close upon the Battle of New Orleans came the storming iDf Fort 
St. Phillips. This point was very important, as it commanded an 
entrance into the Mississippi River. The Americans had made 
every effort to strengthen its defenses in tire summer of 1814. 
Negroes in great numbers were there emploved at that time. On 
the 8th of January the place was attacked by British gunboats, that 
kept up their siege intermittently for a period of ten days. The gar- 
rison of three hundred and sixty-six held out successfully during this 
engagement. Its defensive force were thirty freemen of color, un- 
der Listeau. The engagement ended victoriously for the Americans 
on the eighteenth of Januacy. Meanwhile, peace between this coun- 
try and Great Britain had already been declared. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 85 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

(In the following list of books may be found an account of the services 
of Xegroes as chronicled in the foregoing pages.) 

Defexsive Services of Negroes ix Colonial Wars. 
Nt'zv York. 

1. New York State Library Bulletin. 1898-1902. 

2. American Colonies of 17th Century. Vol. II. Osgood. 

« Massachusetts. 

1. History of New England. Vol. II. Palfrey. 

2. History of Slavery in Massachusetts. Moore, George. 

North Carolina. 

1. Colonial Records of North Carolina. Vol. I. / 

2. History of North Carolina. Raper. ^X 

South Caroli)ia. 

1. Statutes at Large — South Carolina. Vol. V^II. 

2. Early History of Virginia. Hawks, F. C. 

3. History of South Carolina. Simms. 

4. History of the United States. Eggleston. 

Rhode Island. 
1. Rhode Island Colonial Records. Vol. IV. 

Virginia. 

1. Slavery in Virginia. Ballagh. 

2. Statutes of Virginia. Vols. I, IV. Henning. 

Georgia. 
1. The Early History of Virginia and other 
Southern States. Hawks. 

Negroes ix the French .^xd Ixdi.^x War. 
Braddock's Campaign. 

1. Massachusetts Archives— Muster Rolls. Vols. 91-94. 

2. "The Gazette," published in Lancaster. Ohio, February, 1843. 

3. History of Cumberland, Md. Lowdermilk. 

4. History of Washington County (Md.). Hager. 

5 Washington and Braddock Expedition, The. Haddock. 
6. History of Buck County, Pa. 
T. Virginia. Campbell. 

The Surrender of Fort DuQuesne. 
1. Provincial History of Pennsylvania. Balch. 

, . ' Raids. 
1. The History of Cumberland (Md.). Lowdermilk. 

Northern Campaign. 

1. The French and Indian War— Muster Rolls of Massachusetts. Vols. 97, 98. 

2. Indians in Their Wars with White People. 

0. Patriots of American Revolution. Nell, Wm. 

4. Slavery in New Jersey. Cooley. 

5. The French and Indian War. Johnson. 

The Story of Crispus Attucks. 

1. History of the United States. Botta. 

2. The American Revolution. Hawks. 

3. History of the United States. Vol. VI. Bancroft. "^ 

4. An Historical Research. Livermore. 

5. Patriots of the American Revolution. Nell. 
i6, Adam's Works. Vol. XL 

f 



86 MISSING tAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

Massachusetts. 

1. Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution. Vols. II, III, IX. 

2. Groton During the Revolution. S. A. Green. 

3. Massachusetts Archives. Vol. XXX. 

4. "Objects of Interest" (a catalog of Old Colony Hist. Asso.). 

Vermont. 
Slavery in Massachusetts. Moore. 

New Hampshire. 

1. Patriots of the American Revolution. Nell. ♦ 

2. Muster Rolls of New Hampshire. ^ 

Rhode Island. 
1. The Defence of Fort Mercer. 
• 2. Revolutionary Papers. Vol. 199, Mass. Archives. 

3. History of Rhode Island. Vol. I. Arnold. 

4. An Historical Research. Livermore. 
C. American Patriots. _ Nell, W. C. 

6. An Historical Inquiry. Ryder. 

7. Military Journal. Thatcher. 

8. American Revolution — Frank Moore's Diary of. 

Connecticut. 
1. Slavery in Connecticut. Steiner. 
t 2. Patriots of the American Revolution. Nell, W. C. 

New York. 

1. Field Book of the American Revolution. Lossing. 

2. Our Country. Lossing. 

3. American Archives. 5th Series, Vol. I. Force. 

4. New York in the Revolution. Fernow. 

5. Camp Fires of Afro-Americans. Wilson. 

« G. American Patriots of the Revolution. Nell, W. C. 

Nezv Jersey. 

1. History of the United States. Vol. V. Bancroft. 

2. Assembly Journal (N. J.). 8th Sess., 2d Sit., Aug. 3-Sept. 1, 1784. 

3. Slavery in New Jersey in Johns Hopkins' Historic Studies. Vol. XIV. 

Pennsylvania. 
Minutes of Supreme Executive Council. Vol. II. 

Maryland. 

1. An Historical Research. MIoore, George. 

2. Slavery in Maryland. Bracket. 

Virginia. . , 

1. American Archives. 4th Series, Vol. III. Force. 

2. Statutes of Virginia. Vols. IX, XI, XIII. Hening. 

3. Slavery in Virginia. Ballagh. 

North Carolina. 

1. Laws of North Carolina. Vol. XXIV. 

2. Slavery in North Carolina. Bassett. 

3. American Patriots of the Revolution. W. C. Nell. 

South Carolina. 

1. American Archives. Series 4, Vol. IV. Force. 

2. American Revolution, The. Book 6. Botta. 

3. History of South Carolina. Simms. 

4. American Revolution, The. Leeky. 

5. Speech of Pinkney in U. S. Congress. 

6. Life of Washington. Vol. I. Sparks. 

7. Correspondence of the American Revolution. Vol. II. Sparks. 

8. Life of Green. Vol. II. Johnson. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 87 

Negroes in the American Revolution. 

Georgia. 
1. Revolutionary Papers of Georgia. Vols. I, II. 

Negroes in the Navy. 

1. The Black Phalanx. 

2. Revolutionary Council Papers in Massachusetts State House. Vol. 169. 

3. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution. Vol. III. 

The War of 1812. 
Causes. 
1. The War of 1812. Lossing. • 

Attacks at Bladcnburg, IVashington and Baltimore. 

1. Naval History. Vol. II. Cooper. 

2. Loyalty and Devotion of the Colored American in the War of 1812. 

Nell. W. C. 
a. Niles' Weekly Register. Vol. VII. 

4. Citizen Soldiers of Baltimore. Sallafell. 

The Shannon. . ', 

1. Naval History. Vol. II. Cooper. 

Privateers. ; 

Niies' Weekly Register. Vol. V. 

History of the War of 1812, The. Johnson, R. " j 

History of American Privateers. Coggeshall. :, 

The Battle of Lake Erie. 
Niles' Weekly Register. Vol. VII. 
The War of 1812. Lossing. ^ 

The Catalog of the Old Colony Historical Association. 

fort Mints. 
2\iles' Weekly Register. Vol. V. 
History of Alabama. Vol. II. Picket. 
Life of Jackson. Vol. I. Parton. 

Fort Boyer. 
1. Loyalty and Devotion of the Colored American in the War of 1812. 
Nell, W. C. 
The Battles of Chalmette Plains, The Batteries and of New Orleans. 

1. Niles' Weekly Register. Vol. VII. ^ 

2. Historical Memoir. Latour. 

3. Life of Jackson. Vol. II. Parton. 

4. Diarj' of a Louisiana Gentleman. Walker. 

5. Louisiana Historical Publications, 
fi. American People. Sharp. 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 89 

INDEX. 

A 

Allen. Richard 65 

Acts to Liberate Negroes of : 

Gebrgia 58 

North Carolina ^ 51 

Virginia 48 

Army Return, Washington's 43 

Atakapas, a Hero from 83 

Attucks, Crispus 23 

B 

Banner, The Bucks of America ". 32 

Barnstable, Negro Soldiers from the County of ;. 31 

Battle, The of, Bemis Heights 41 

Bennington ». 41 

Bunker Hill 26 

Batteries 82 

Cimden 44 

Chalmette Plains ». 81 

Lexington 26 

Long Island • 4° 

Monmouth 4^ 

New Orleans ». "^ 

Red Bank 34 

Rhode Island ». 35 

Saratoga ^^ 

Trenton ^l 

Yorktown ^ 

C 

Caesar a Hero in the Canoe Fight 74 

Caesar, Many in the French and Indian War 22 

Caesar, Many in the Revolution 28 

Caesar of Virginia Manumitted 50 

Canoe Fight, The 74 

Castle Island, Defences of * 30 

Caution to Negroes, A 45 

Chalmette Plains, The Battle of 81 

Charlton, Samuel 43 

Chase, Abraham >. 73 

Chavanne, Jean 57 

Chelmsford .\ 27 

Concord, The Battle of ^6 

Cromwell, Oliver 4i 

D 

Davis, John ». 69 

Dorchester, Fortification of 30 

Dunmore, His Proclamation to Negroes 45 

E 

Eads, Charlestown , 27 

Esther, a Negro Heroine 74 

Essex, The Voyage of the , ,...,.,....,. ^7 



\ 



r 



9° MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

F • 

Freedom of Slaves (Soldiers), Petitions for, in Connecticut -g 

New Jersey ^ 

North Carolina ■. ^, 

Virginia /. ;^ ^q 

Free Negroes in Colonial Wars ^q 

15 

The Revolutionary War -. 20 

47 

The War of 1812 

Fifers, Negroes Who Served as ^_ 

71 67 

Fortification, The, of Charleston 

152 " 

Dorchester 30 

Fort Boyer 75 

Fort Mims 73 

Fort Moultrie 52 

Fort St. Phillips [[..........[.'. 84 

Forten, James 58 

Frontier, A Tale of 59 

G 

Gilmore, Tobias 32 

Governor Tompkins 69 

Groton Heights >. ., 38 

Gunner, A Negro 70 

Gunnery, Superiority of Negro 68 

H 

Hall, Primus .^ 30 

Hall, Faneuil , 25 

Hancock, John 32 

Hester, a Negro Heroine * 74 

J 

Jack, Susquehanna or Black 19 

Jackson, Andrew, His Proclamation to Negroes , ■. 

From Mobile ■, 76 

In Alabama 80 

Jones, Absolom , 65 

Johnson, John . . , 69 

K 

Kemp's Landing, The Battle 30 

Kench, Thomas, His Letters Concerning Negro Soldiers 31 

L 

Lamb, Pompey 39 

Lathon or Lambert Pompey 38 

Laws Concerning the Enlistrii^ of Negroes in Colonial Wars 8 

9, 10, II, 12, I I 

The French gnd Indian War » 22 

The Revolutionary War 33 

-jc ^7 

The War of 1812 65 

66 



MISSING PAGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 9I 

Letters of Chauncey ' 7i 

Greene |4 

Jackson ». ., °^ 

83 

Kench"" 31 

Laurens 53 

Lincoln 54 

Perry • 73 . 

Lew, Barzaillai ' 27^ 

M 

Mich, Old .^ 34 

Mims, The Attack on Fort 73 

Monmouth, The Battle of 42 

Morris, Benjamin > ' 49 

N 

Negro Mountain ■ 21 

Negro Troops, Separate Bodies of ^i 

35, 37, 44 

Negroes, in the Battle of Bladensburg 64 

Building Defences in Baltimore 65 

In the Battle of Bunker Hill 27 

In Colonial Wars 8 

9, 10, II 

In the French and Indian War ig 

20, 21 

P 

Poor, Salem ..,•• 28 

Pilots, Negro in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia 51 

55, 50 

Prison, Dartmore • 68 

Ponts Bridge 35 

Prescott, Gen., The Capture of 36 

Q 

Quadroon Women, Nursing of 83 

R 

Rigaud, Andre 57 

Ruflf, A Negro Powder Boy 67 

Ryckert, The Story of 8 

S 

Salem, Peter <■ ., 27 

Separate Bodies of Negro Troops tj 

35, 37, 44 

Sisson, Jack •..,... -- 

Shannon, The Battle of the 67---* 

Spies, Negroes as > ^o 

48 -'^ 

Staton, Peter, The Story of i5q 

Story, a Boarder " 8 

Stony Point, The Battle of 39 

Sullivan's Island, The Battle of >.., 52 



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